The Last Banquet
by TheUninspiredArtist
Summary: Kyo and Tohru married after graduation, but she suddenly vanished at the urging of Akito. It's been almost eighteen years since anyone in the Sohma family has seen her, but now she's suddenly come home, and with an orange-haired reason…
1. Homecoming

**Summary: **Kyo and Tohru married after graduation, but she suddenly vanished at the urging of Akito. It's been almost seventeen years since anyone in the Sohma family has seen her, but now she's suddenly come home, and with an orange-haired reason…

**The Last Banquet**

Chapter 1- Homecoming

"This is the Keihin-Tohoku Line, stopping at Ueno, Akabane, Omiya, and Tokyo Station."

Bright blue eyes gazed on at the scenery as Tohru Sohma looked out the trains tiny window, yet her mind was elsewhere.

It was nearly seventeen years ago she married the man of her dreams, Kyo Sohma. They moved in to a small apartment near Kazumas, where he began training Kyo to one day take over his dojo. Along with Kyo's training, they both held down jobs and planned on buying a home of their own and maybe starting a family in the near future. And it was seventeen years ago that she just up and left it all without warning.

Tohru let out a sigh as she vaguely remembered the town, and as the memory of that evening became more prominent in her mind.

* * *

><p><em>Tohru sat across from Akito. He didn't look it, but she could sense that he was furious. <em>

_And Tohru was terrified. A few months ago, she and Kyo had gotten married, and without the consent of the Head of the Sohma. She started to shake a little as Akito stood up. For a moment she was too afraid to look into his eyes, and looked down at the tiny gold band on her finger. _

_Akito moved quickly and before she knew it, Tohru felt the fine, sharp tip of a knife pressed against her throat. Her eyes grew wide in surprise and terror, and she could swear she could feel a tiny trail of blood travel down her neck and slowly drip down over her collarbone._

"_I really should kill you for that defiant little move you pulled, Miss Honda…" Akito stated, his cold tone making Tohru violently shudder. _

"_A-Akito-sama…! Ah!" _

_Akito took the knife away and with great force, backhanded Tohru so hard she fell over and onto the ground. _

"_Who gave you permission to marry one of my Zodiac? Because I know I sure didn't! I don't care if it is the filthy Cat!" He got up and kicked her in the stomach, knocking the air out of the poor girl. "How dare you take one of my Zodiac from me! You don't belong in the Sohma! You never will!"_

"_Ple…please, Akito-sama…!" Tohru gasped, curled tightly into a ball and holding her stomach as it throbbed in pain. "Stop!"_

_That twisted look of insanity was still on Akitos face as his grip on the knife became tighter. "This sort of deed cannot go without punishment. I'll kill you for this, Miss Honda. You and that revolting Cat for falling in love with the likes of you…" _

_Akito fell to his knees and raised the knife. He rolled Tohru onto her back and made sure her neck was exposed, ready to pierce the skin and watch the life bleed out of her._

"_I'll vanish then." She stated, making eye contact with Akito with her own teary ones. _

_What she said stopped him in his tracks. "What do you mean?"_

"_Killing me won't hurt Kyo like you want." Tohru replied, still keeping her gaze on Akito's. "I imagine he'll take his own life, and you still wouldn't have won, Akito-sama. He would be free from you…"_

_Growing angered by Tohru's defiant attitude, Akito stabbed the knife into the wooden floor next to her face. "Then what do you suggest?"_

_It took Tohru every ounce of will power and strength not to break as she replied, but it was her only choice to keep Kyo and herself alive._

"_I'll abandon him."_

_Akito looked on in a psychotic sort of interest. "Abandon him, eh? Would you really do that to him, Miss Honda? Just leave the man you apparently love?"_

_Keeping her resolve strong, Tohru replied. "…Consider me leaving the Sohma my farewell present to you, and Kyo's grief an added bonus, Akito-sama."_

_Akito looked away in thought for a moment. As hard as it was, Tohru tried to keep her breathing and erratic heartbeat under control, not wanting to let Akito know how horrified she was right now. Then without warning, Akito yanked the knife out of the floorboards. _

"_You have until eight tonight." He ordered, twirling the sharp and shiny object in his hand. "You are to leave this city and never return. Don't ever try and contact anyone, both the Sohma, or your friends. Or Kyo. Because if you do…" He pause to let the blade graze her neck. "I will not hesitate to slit your throat. Yours and your precious Cats, and I'll make sure you're still alive to watch his death. Understood, Miss Honda?"_

"_Yes, Akito-sama." Somehow Tohru seemed emotionless as she replied, but was overjoyed to know that Kyo would still be alive, even if she wouldn't be there with him._

_Akito stood up and looked down on her in disgust. "Eight o clock is fast approaching, I suggest you leave this place." _

_Tohru slowly and painfully stood up and left Akitos room as fast as she could. Once outside and away from the estate, she ran to the apartment she shared with Kyo. She packed a small bag of clothes and grabbed all the money she had saved and headed straight for the train station, but not before leaving Kyo a note that said;_

_Kyo,_

_I know we've been through_

_a lot together since we met._

_I can't explain why, but I just_

_had to leave. I just want you to _

_know I love you dearly and hope_

_that someday you can forgive_

_me doing this. Please, keep _

_yourself safe._

_Tohru_

_At the station, Tohru boarded a train to Hokkaido. She had never been there, yet she felt it was a place Akito could never find her. _

_She was all kinds of paranoid as the train rambled down the tracks and out of the city limits, feeling as if Akito was somewhere near her, making sure she was really leaving. Yet once eight o clock came, all the adrenaline that was flowing through her had suddenly disappeared, sorrow and anguish quickly replacing it. _

_Her breathing suddenly becoming heavy and eyes beginning to burn from the salty tears, Tohru cupped her face with her hands and began to sob._

"_Kyo…I'm so sorry…!"_

* * *

><p>As the train got deeper into the city, Tohru didn't really notice it starting to slow down.<p>

"_I hope waiting seventeen years to come back wasn't a mistake…" _She thought, fighting the urge to start biting her nails. _"But I have to go back. Everyone, most especially Kyo, they need to know…"_

"This is the Keihin-Tohoku Line, now stopping at Akabane. Next stop Omiya. Now stopping at Akabane, next stop Omiya."

The announcement got Tohru out of her stupor. As the train began to come to a stop, she retrieved her large suitcase from under her seat. As she stood with her bag, she nudged the arm of a teenage girl across from her.

"Hn?" The girl turned from watching the scenery to whatever touched her. She tucked some dark orange, almost auburn in color, hair behind a multi-pierced ear as she pulled some headphones out of them, blinking her translucent blue eyes. "What?"

Tohru smiled. "This is our stop, Miharu. Grab your bag and let's go."

The girl didn't look happy, and almost afraid, as she examined all the people in the station, but she complied. "Okay, mom…"

End of Chapter 1


	2. Bombshell After Bombshell

**Summary: **Kyo and Tohru married after graduation, but she suddenly vanished at the urging of Akito. It's been almost seventeen years since anyone in the Sohma family has seen her, but now she's suddenly come home, and with an orange-haired reason…

**The Last Banquet**

Chapter 2- Bombshell After Bombshell

Shigure was sitting out on the porch reading a newspaper and enjoying the cool breeze outside as he heard a knocking on his door.

"_Hmm… I'll let Shouta answer it. It's probably Hiroya, anyway…"_

He continued to pour through the pages until his son came in.

"Hey, dad, there's a lady and her kid here for you…" Shouta, who looked like the brown haired version of Shigure said, trying keeping his eye on the pair, but to no avail as he couldn't see into the living room where he let them wait for Shigure.

"Really?" Shigure questioned. "Anyone we know?"

"No one I know, that's for sure." Shouta replied. "But the girl she's got with her, there's something really strange about her. Something foul and familiar…"

Shigure raised an eyebrow. _"Foul and familiar? That's a very strange description…"_

"Well, I'll go see who they are." He said as he got up. "Where are they?"

"Oh, I told them to wait in the living room." Shouta said, snapping out of his trance-like daze. "And there's…something else about her, too."

"What is it?" Shigure really began to grow interested.

"She…" It seemed Shouta didn't seem to believe what he was about to say. "She's making me feel like…like something's complete." Shigure felt an odd twinge in his stomach. He was about to walk away when Shouta stopped him, grabbing the sleeve of his navy blue kimono. Shigure turned around to face the boy, who began to hesitate. "Don't freak out, and don't think I'm crazy, but she looks like…she looks like Kyo…"

Shigure said nothing as his dark eyes grew wide, and he turned on his heel and made way towards the mysterious guests.

"_This is odd." _He pondered, starting to feel a faint pressure as he placed his hand on the sliding door._ "Very odd, indeed. Who can make a Zodiac feel that way? Aside from Akito…"_

As the door slid open, two things immediately stood out to him.

A head of auburn-orange hair and an all too familiar scowl.

And the long lost Tohru.

"Hello, Shigure-san." She smiled, her blue eyes warm as ever. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Shigure was dumbfounded as he stumbled his way closer to get a better look at the woman.

"Tohru-kun? Is that really you?" He still couldn't believe it. Yet as he examined her, he could see it really was her.

He broke into a smile and gave her an almost rib crushing embrace, something didn't even think about before doing.

Her features had changed very little the past seventeen years, she only looked more mature. The only real change was her silky brown hair, once very long, had now been layered out and dangled around her collar bones.

And the orange haired carbon copy of herself sitting to her left.

But before he could ask about the girl, Tohru interrupted.

"Shigure-san, what-why didn't you-"

"Transform?" He simply asked. "I can't anymore."

"What?" Miharu asked, giving the two a suspicious glare. "You mean, you're the same as me?"

Shigures face went strangely blank. "…How do you know about the Sohma family curse? Tohru, you know-"

"Dude, I am a Sohma!" Miharu replied, wondering why a person could, in her opinion, could ask such a stupid question. "How else would I know if I wasn't one?"

"You're…? Okay, this is a lot going right now." He said as he began massaging his temples. He was starting to feel a like he had a migraine coming on with the bombshell that seemed to just drop.

"You got that right!" Miharu said, pounding her fist on the table. "Mom! What is going on? Can he change forms, too?"

"'Mom'?" Shigure asked, looking back and forth between Tohru and Miharu. _"Did I hear that right?"_

"Okay, how about I start." Tohru declared, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Shigure-san, this is my daughter, Miharu Sohma. Miharu, this is Shigure-san, and he's a very old and dear friend of mine."

"You…you had a child, Tohru-kun?" Shigures eyes grew wide. "But, she can't be a Sohma, you-"

"Wait, please, Shigure-san." Tohru pleaded before turning to her daughter. "Miharu, can you please leave Shigure-san and I alone for a moment? There's something I need to tell him in private."

"Are you avoiding the transformation thing or my parentage?" Miharu questioned, feeling burned from being left out. "Cause if you are, I don't appreciate it. I want answers!"

"Miharu, I'm not denying you as my child. As for your answers, you'll get them." Tohru reassured, putting a hand on her daughters shoulder. "I promise, it's just right now is not right. Trust me, sweetheart."

Miharu only scowled as she got up and stormed out of the room, slamming the slider shut.

Shigure was confused. "Why did you ask her to leave?"

"There are still things I'd rather Miharu not know." Shigure seemed to accept the answer. Tohru let out a sigh, and continued on. "Shigure-san, Miharu _is_ a blood Sohma. Kyo is her father."

"Oh my God, really?" Shigure asked, leaning against the table for some support. "I mean, yeah she does look like him, but…"

"Yes." She continued. "It was about two months after I left I found out I was pregnant with Miharu. I was so scared, I didn't really know what to do at the time."

"Why didn't you come back then?" He asked, blown away by her admission. "More importantly, why did you suddenly leave, and why did you take nearly seventeen years to come back? And why did you never tell Kyo about his child? I mean, what happened, Tohru-kun? This is just…I'm not getting it…"

Tohru held her head down in shame as she began to explain the reason. "Akito-sama was going to kill Kyo and myself."

"What? Why?" He realized this was probably why she sent Miharu out.

"Because we got married." She replied. "Akito-sama had asked me to come over one night, and while I was there, he fully intended to kill me right there." Shigure looked on in horror. "In the face of death, the idea of leaving the Sohma suddenly came to me. Akito agreed to the idea and I was pretty much banished from that moment on. At that time, I couldn't do anything but run. My only consolation was Kyo would still be alive. Making sure he was unharmed was all that matter to me."

"Really?" Shigure asked.

"Yes. I couldn't even contact Hana-chan or Uo-chan. If I did, everyone's lives would be in danger. And I knew Akito-sama was serious." Tohru wiped a small tear from her eye. "I'm just so ashamed with the fact that I took the cowards way out…"

Shigure put his hand on hers. "Tohru-kun, I had no idea. We just thought that…you know, you couldn't handle being a part of the Sohma anymore, which none of us believed of course. But, if any of us had known, we would've protected you."

"No…" Tohru sniffled. "Akito-sama would've done the same to you. I wouldn't risk that. Even if you had, it still would have ended up the same. Regardless, Miharu will never know who her father is. I…I know Kyo ended up dying…"

"What?" He said in an unbelieving tone. "Tohru-kun, no, he isn't dead. Kyo is still alive. He never died. And he still loves you very much." Shigure stated, the serious tone in his voice knocking Tohru out of her stupor. She looked up, shocked, hopeful, and scared. "He searched everywhere looking for you when you disappeared. Everyone did, actually. He even begged Akito for help. I think maybe he knew then what happened and why."

"I…Shigure-san, I don't understand…how can Kyo be alive?" Something just didn't sit right with Tohru.

Shigure leaned back a little, stunned. "He…he is. Nothing bad has ever happened to him. What on earth would make you think otherwise?"

"Because Miharu turns into the Cat…" Tohru said slowly, digesting what Shigure said. "Don't you remember when I first met you, you told me once someone is cursed, they remain with the curse until they die. How is it possible Miharu changes while Kyo is still here? Don't get me wrong, I'm more than elated to know he's alive, but how is this happening? Is he still cursed as well?"

Shigure blinked a few times before letting out a breath. "Looks like it's my turn to do some explaining…"

* * *

><p>"This is really stupid…" Bickered a teenage boy, looking rather messy in his school uniform, flicking some silvery-brown hair out of his violet eyes, clearly frustrated with something.<p>

"What are you whining about now, Hazuki?" His companion, a girl about his age with medium length, bright red hair asked as she watched her cousin get ready to vent on her and the other member of their small group.

"Wait, I'll answer that for you, Katara." The other boy interrupted, giving Hazuki a sly smirk, mischief glittering in his sea foam green eyes. "It's because of all the girls chasing him around school! You know they wanna make a fan club for you."

"No, Riku, those stalkers are not the problem. At least the main one. And don't even say that! You know my dad had one back when he was in school! Worst experience he had in school from what I remember him telling me!" Hazuki said, giving his other cousin a threatening glare. "Right now my main problem is my English homework."

"How is your English homework your problem?" Katara asked, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't English one of your better subjects?"

"Not this assignment." Hazuki sighed. "Fujieda-sensei told us we had to take a book and compare the Japanese and English translations to each other and see how much some parts differ and how some stay true to the translation."

"Well that doesn't sound hard." Katara replied.

"No, but he book I received was the Scarlet Letter." Hazuki replied. "I was having Shigure help me with it, but I left it here at his house the other night and it was due today."

"Oooh, that's a hard one." Riku whistled, feeling really glad he didn't have the same teacher. "But what can you expect from a crazy teacher like that?"

Hazuki gave a snort. "Yeah, wanna trade…teachers…?" He slowed dramatically in mid sentence and slowed to a stop physically.

Riku and Katara stopped with Hazuki, and looked on at the boy, giving him strange looks at his sudden behavior.

"Hazuki?" Katara asked, examining the boy with her chocolate colored eyes.

"Hey, you alright?" Riku asked, brushing some blond tresses out of his line of vision as he tilted his head and watched Hazuki.

Hazuki returned their strange looks with one of his own. "Don't you two feel that?"

"Feel what?" They asked in unison.

"I don't know how to explain it..." He replied, looking around, seeing Shigure's house in the distance. He continued to search for anything out of the ordinary. Shigure's house looked the same, the pathway to it, the yard, yet there was something out of the ordinary in one of the trees.

"Hey," He asked in awe. "Who's that?"

"Hm?" Katara chirped as she and Riku turned their heads to look where Hazuki was looking.

Up in one of the trees a good distance from the house was a girl their age, hanging out on one of the branches. Yet being still a ways down the path, they couldn't really get that good of a look at her, but one thing they immediately noticed was the mane of auburn-orange hair. There was only one person they knew with hair like that, yet this wasn't Kyo.

"Huh. I wonder who that is?" Riku asked, eying her from head to toe, taking note of the black jeans with a few holes in them, the small red hoodie that seemed a little tight, and the red and black shoes she was wearing.

Hazuki suddenly found the will to move again, and headed forward. "Hang back, I'll let you know."

"Hey! What are you doing?" Katara asked, confused as to why her cousin would willingly go meet a girl.

Up in the tree, Miharu was chilling out on the branch, legs stretched out and crossed as she leaned against he thick body of the tree. She had resumed in playing with her mp3 player after being banished from her mothers meeting with Shigure. Not wanting to wander, she walked up to one of the trees and climbed it. High places always made her feel calmer and safer.

"_Well, at least the breeze feels good…" _Miharu thought, enjoying the early fall weather, looking out to nowhere in particular as she fiddled with the headphones in her ears. Her mp3 player died long ago, but she had yet to actually put it away. _"But what is that coming along with it?"_

"Hey!" She heard a voice call from down below.

"Who the…?" She mumbled, looking around and then to the ground where she saw Hazuki, standing a few feet away from the tree and looking up at her with a smile. _"Is he causing that weird presence?"_

"Whatcha doing up there?" He asked, watching her up in the tree. He was surprised when she suddenly let herself fall out of the tree.

He was instantly taken back the cat-like grace she had in her execution and landing. It looked as if it was nothing to her. As she slowly stood up, her beauty stuck him in a way he couldn't explain. She had round, doll-like face with large clear blue eyes, fair skin, and soft pink lips. And all of her features seemed accented with her auburn-orange hair as her longer styled bangs framed her face. Hazuki could even say the inquisitive glare she was giving him was lovely.

But it wasn't just her looks that got Hazuki all fired up. It was the feeling he got from her. Something about her made him feel right and wrong. And even complete.

"_I can't…I feel hate for this girl somehow. But I don't want to hate her, I want more…I want to know more about her than I have anyone. I want her…" _He thought, feeling like his heart was about to explode as he examined her more.

"What?" Miharu asked, getting annoyed with his stare.

Hazuki shook his head and snapped out of it. "Nothing, it's just-Hm?"

He was starting to feel nervous as Miharu walked up and examined him closely. "Now this is weird…" She said.

"What is?" He asked, calming down.

"I know I've never seen you before in my life, but," She replied, taking a step back from him, her gaze unfaltering, "I can't help but feel like I've known you forever."

Something inside Hazuki resonated with her words. "Really? Cause you know, I kind of have the same feeling towards you."

Miharu gave him an almost creeped out look. "Tell me that wasn't a pick up line…"

"No, it wasn't! I swear!" Hazuki sputtered out, holding his hands up in defense. "Really, I do feel that way!" He took a breath and calmed his self before continuing. "So, can I ask you your name?"

"Yeah, no." Miharu replied, taking a step back. "You freak me out and I don't' want any of the crazy you seem to offer…"

"Wait, no!" Hazuki said, stepping forward to stop her, tripping his self over in the process. _"No! I'm gonna land on her…! Dammit, I'm gonna transform…!"_

"_Oh, hell!" _Miharu began to mentally panic as she felt the teenager begin to topple over her. _"No! I can't transform! Not here!"_

Riku and Katara watched from a distance as the scene unfolded. "Oh, no!" Katara cried. "Riku, this is not good!"

"You think?" He responded, rushing over to aide Hazuki with the trauma that they were sure was to unfold. Yet when the arrived, the two of them were in for a shock.

"What the…?" Riku trailed off, his sprint quickly slowing to a stop. "This…"

"What is going on?" Katara nearly shrieked at the sight in front of her.

On the ground was her cousin Hazuki, who was still human, on top of a terrified looking girl, who should've set off his transformation into a little brown rat.

Both teens on the ground were too distracted to fully notice they were in an embarrassing position, as they were too busy examining their own selves, yet Miharu was quick to recover.

She trembled a bit in rage as her scared expression hardened into one of malice. No one saw her ball up her fist, and no one was ever going to expect to see her punch Hazuki right in the face.

"GET THE HELL OFFA ME!"

With great force, Hazuki fell backwards, cupping his eye as hit the ground, moaning in pain.

"Oh my God, Hazuki are you okay?" Katara asked, kneeling down to assess his injuries.

"Whoa, that girl can hit!" Riku exclaimed, both shocked and impressed. "Hey, you alright?" He asked, looking down to make sure his cousin was okay.

"Urgh, the hell, man!" Hazuki nearly shouted, but recovering quick and getting up to confront Miharu, his left eye a faint shade of purple. "What was that for?"

She didn't seem to notice him. She was looking at her hands, and scaled her eyes down her body as she stood rooted to the ground, trembling. "I…I didn't transform…?"

"Hey, didn't you-!" Hazuki began, but stopped short when he heard her say something about transforming. "Transform? What are you talking about?" Something inside Hazuki told him this was no ordinary girl now.

Miharu snapped out of it, realizing she said more than she should. "Damn…"

* * *

><p>Back inside Shigure's, Tohru sat dumbfounded at the table, nearly dropping her cup of tea. "You…you mean to say that the curse has suddenly skipped over to everyone's children? How is that so?"<p>

End of chapter 2

Yay! A cliffhanger! Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as I can! 3


	3. Calm Before the Storm

**Summary: **Kyo and Tohru married after graduation, but she suddenly vanished at the urging of Akito. It's been almost seventeen years since anyone in the Sohma family has seen her, but now she's suddenly come home, and with an orange-haired reason…

**Authors Notes: **So I have a surprise. :D I drew a picture of Miharu and Hazuki! .com/#/d49e744 And I think I effed up my timeline for this story, so I may have to go back and do some changes to it. D: Anyways, this was a really hard chapter to write, but I hope it's enjoyable.

**The Last Banquet**

Chapter 3- Calm Before the Storm

Back inside Shigure's, Tohru sat dumbfounded at the table, nearly dropping her cup of tea. "You…you mean to say that the curse has suddenly skipped over to everyone's children? How is that so?"

"I don't know." Shigure shrugged. "It happened maybe about year after you left. When Yuki's son was born. After Haa-san delivered him and handed him to Machi, he instantly turned into a baby rat. Yuki didn't realize or feel it then, because Machi went into labor two months premature and panicked, but once Hazuki was born, he had been released from the curse. His child now had to bear the weight of the Zodiac curse."

"Yuki-kun's son?" The thought hit Tohru hard. She remembered when the pair announced were suddenly expecting a month or so before she left. What else had she missed while she was gone? "Shigure-san, who else has lost their curses?"

"Well," He began, "pretty much everyone. Aside from Hiro and Kisa, we all pretty much had our kids around the same time, within a year or two of each other. Thinking about it now, that's very odd for us."

"Having children around the same time?" She asked. "Is it really out of the ordinary?"

"Well, all of them being that close together and not much apart in age, yes." Shigure replied. "But that's not the only thing that bothers me about this…"

Tohru's interest was sparked. "What else is there?"

"Three sets of twins for one." He stated.

"Well, the Sohma family is quite large, three sets of twins doesn't sound that odd." She replied.

"No, you don't get it." He said. "Momiji, Kisa, and Kagura each had a set of twins. It's unusual for anyone in the Zodiac to give birth to twins. But having three, well four, of the Zodiac either father or give birth to twins, and all six kids ended up virtually inheriting the Zodiac curses, it's never really ever happened before, at least to our knowledge."

"Really?" Tohru wanted to ask more, but somehow couldn't muster up the words.

Shigure was on the fence about this one, but decided she would find out sooner or later. "And this one involves Akito." He notice Tohru stiffen up at the mention of him. "He's still alive for one."

"O-okay…" Was all Tohru could get out.

"Well, he has a child, also. But usually once the next God is born, the Zodiac simply know. Like us older ones did when Akito was conceived. And the present God usually dies a few years after their heirs birth. But as for Arata-sama, he seems to bear no bond with any of the Zodiac. It was actually quite the surprise when Akito announced his heir was born." He continued on, watching Tohru fidget nervously every when he mentioned Akito's name. "They don't feel anything with him. He may as well just be a normal person…"

"How old is this Arata-sama?" She asked.

"He's ten years old." Shigure replied. "Same age as Hiro and Kisa's twins."

"Really?" The thought of what Hiro and Kisa's children may look like made Tohru gush. "Oh, I'll bet they're adorable!"

"Oh, they are adorable." He smiled, quickly returning to his serious demeanor. "But, there's one more thing that really bothers me, Tohru-kun."

"What is it?"

His gaze was stone serious. "Never before in the history of the Sohma has the Cat been born anything but male."

Tohru felt her heart nearly jump out of her chest. "You're kidding, Shigure-san…"

"I'm afraid not. Miharu is the first and only girl to be born cursed by the Cat. This is more than unusual, I must say."

"I'm almost not grasping any of this." Tohru said in response. "You're saying Miharu is the _only_ girl ever born under the Cat? Are you sure there wasn't another one down the line?"

"Ever." He said. "Right now, there are so many weird things going on with the curse, it's hard to understand. Chances are her being born like that are just a fluke with the sudden shift of generations, but part of me feels like this is like an omen of some sort." He looked off at nowhere in particular. There's going to be something huge coming-"

"Get the hell away from me!"

Tohru and Shigure looked at the door to the living room, only to see an orange and brown blur race in from the other door leading to the room, Miharu leaping over the table with minimal effort.

"Miharu, stop!" Tohru exclaimed, getting up to hopefully stop the girl.

"Hazuki, what are you doing?" Shigure shouted, noticing he looked really mad. Not the mention the black eye that was continuing to darken, Riku and Katara following closely behind.

Hearing the commotion, Shigure's son came barreling downstairs to see what was going on. "Dad, is everything okay?

"You!" Miharu said as she stopped, breathing heavily and angrily pointing at Shigure. "Why the hell didn't you tell me these woods were filled with freaks!"

"What?" Shigure was confused.

"Oh, this is what's going on…" Shouta said, feeling as if he should've known better than to ask.

"Oh, I'm the freak?" Hazuki shouted from the other side of the table. "I don't randomly punch other people for no reason!"

"That's cause you decided to creep on me!" She retorted, balling up her fist. "Keep running your mouth, don't think I won't do it again, creeper!"

Tohru decided it was time to intervene. "Miharu Sohma, that is enough!"

It was then she heard the gasps of the four teenagers that suddenly filled the room.

"What?" Hazuki asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"'Sohma?'" Katara asked, eyeing the angry girl opposite her as she clutched onto her and Hazuki's bag.

"She is." Shigure replied, watching their reactions.

Shouta looked over at his father. "You serious?"

"Get outta here!" Riku said, looking her from head to toe. "No way she's a Sohma. If she is then how come no one's ever seen her before?"

"I'm from Hokkaido, you moron." Miharu replied, looking at Riku like he was stupid. "And yes, I _am_ a Sohma. I'm getting real sick of hearing I can't be one."

"Prove it."

Miharu looked for her challenger, and saw it was none other than Hazuki. With quick grace, she stepped around the table and right to him.

"Miharu, stop!" Tohru said, fearing she would strike the boy again.

Once close enough, she raised her left arm and pulled the sleeve of her red jacket down, revealing a simple bracelet of black and white beads, with she believed was the ultimate proof of her lineage.

"It's a bracelet, so what?" Hazuki said, examining her arm. But what he really noticed aside from the bracelet was that her arm was actually wrapped in gauze. It made him wonder what happened to her.

"It's not just a bracelet." Miharu said, her voice oddly cold.

Katara spoke up, getting an ominous feeling washing over her. "That's not…that's not the one-"

"The Cat wears?" Miharu said, cutting her of, yet keeping her eyes on Hazuki's. "It is." Miharu was satisfied when she saw Hazuki's cocky expression fade into wide-eyed disbelief.

"You're kidding…" He said, feeling his heart sink.

She decided to really blow him away now. "I _am_ the Cat. I know about the Sohma family curse and the story behind it. About how God invited thirteen animals to a party, yet the Rat tricked the Cat into not going. Due to some unknown reason, thirteen people are born possessed by the spirits of the Zodiac, yet the Cat is always shunned because of the Rats actions. That those born possessed are always born two months premature. And I know that if I ever take this bracelet off, I become the Cat demon that lives within me. Me, and every other Sohma who ever had to live with this curse…and trust me, it's not a pretty sight…"

"_Tohru-kun really kept her educated on this, didn't she?"_ Shigure thought, the shock of Miharu's blunt admission sinking in.

"…You're not kidding…" Was all Hazuki could reply, wishing she wasn't.

A heavy silence filled the room everyone was in. Hazuki could only keep staring at Miharu in shock and awe, even as she covered the beads back up and walked away from him. He realized now why he had that feeling of hate towards her, yet it was easily eclipsed by the unusual force of being drawn to her.

"Okay!" Shigure said, breaking the awkward silence and taking command of the situation. "You four," he pointed to Shouta, Hazuki, Katara, and Riku, "sit down and behave. I'm going to call Haa-san."

"For what?" Riku asked, giving Shigure a confused look. "Hazuki's fine, it's just a black eye."

"Miharu's hand." Shigure replied. "It looks like it's swelling up. And I really need to have Haa-san relay something to Akito. Now sit."

Tohru grabbed her daughters hand and examined it. "Miharu, does it hurt?"

"It's fine." She replied, pulling away and setting down, distancing herself from the group. "Not like it's broken or anything…I think I'd feel it if it was…"

Sitting down at the table with everyone, Hazuki kept glancing over at Miharu. He was in conflict with himself. Part of him wanted to get even for punching him, but another wanted no harm to come to her at all. He couldn't understand why, and cursed his self for feeling that way, but just couldn't help it.

"_Hn…I hope her hand isn't broken…" _He thought as he sighed, tearing his gaze away from her for what seemed like the hundredth time.

* * *

><p>Hatori was sitting at his desk and working on filing some paperwork, pausing to look out of the window and letting out a sigh. "Why do I get the feeling it's going to be a long day?"<p>

As if on queue, the phone on the desk began to ring. Hatori had half a mind to just let it ring, but nowadays, it was always something important involving Akito. Over the years, his health had deteriorated significantly.

Sighing, he picked up the phone. "Hatori Sohma."

"Oh, Haa-san!" Said a cheery voice on the other line.

He pulled the phone away from his ear and shot off a look that cried 'kill me'. "What would you like, Shigure?"

"Oh, not much." He replied, and even though Hatori couldn't see him, he was sure Shigure was smiling as he spoke. "Hazuki's got a black eye, and Miharu may have a broken hand, just wondering if you could come over and check them out."

"Miharu?" Hatori asked, raising an eyebrow. "May I ask who this is?"

"Ah, well," Shigure began, "she hasn't quite been formally introduced to Shouta, or the other three I have over at the moment, or anyone else for that matter. So how about you come over and meet her? You'll have to eventually."

"What are you getting at, Shigure?" Now Hatori was really suspicious of the former Dog.

He could only imagine Shigure giving a mischievous smile as he replied. "Let's just say it's a surprise."

"I'll be right over." He sighed, standing up and grabbing the bag on the other side of his desk. "And it this is a joke of some sort, I'm going to kill you."

"Oh, Haa-san!" Shigure cried. "Cruel as ever!"

Hatori just hung up on Shigure, grabbing his keys and looking the door as he left.

* * *

><p>"How rude…!" Shigure whined, setting the phone back down on the receiver. He returned to the living room area and poked his head through the door.<p>

"Oh, Tohru-kun!" He asked in a singsong voice. "Can I see you for a moment?"

"Oh, yes, Shigure-san." She replied, getting up and walking towards the man. As soon as she passed through the doorway, Shigure shut the door and walked her down the other end of the hall.

"So, Haa-san is coming over." He said. He felt a little uneasy about it though.

"Oh, I can't wait to see him!" Tohru smiled.

"Well, there's just one thing." Shigure said.

"What is it?"

"He's going to have to tell Akito about Miharu." He replied, though not wanting to be the bearer of bad news. "Akito-sama keeps strong tabs on these kids and since his health isn't the greatest, Hatori is in charge of watching over them and telling him everything about them."

Tohru felt her heart sink. Sure, she had told her daughter about the head of the Sohma family, yet she never really elaborated on his horrendous reign over those who were possessed. Or what he did to her and Kyo for that matter.

Shigure noticed instantly it made Tohru uncomfortable. "Is everything okay?"

Tohru looked down as if in defeat and let out a shaky sigh. "I'm…I'm terrified of the thought of exposing my daughter to Akito-sama. For almost seventeen years I've kept her hidden from him and if I had my way, I'd keep her from him forever. I'm scared, but I can face him. Miharu on the other hand, she's a Zodiac. She has that bond, and who knows how it will affect her if and when they meet?"

"She'll have too." Shigure said. "You don't know how long he's been waiting for the Cat to show itself. He may not even want to meet her, Tohru." He added, hoping to reassure her. "She is, well, the Cat. You know how Akito feels about those possessed by that spirit."

"I'm hoping so." Tohru said, her eyes still looking down. "I can handle whatever Akito-sama has in store for me, but…" She looked down the hall where the living room was. "I don't think I could handle anything happening to Miharu. I nearly lost her once, I don't want it to happen for real this time."

Shigure's interest peaked. "What happened?"

Tohru let out a deep breath. "It was before we moved back. She had an…incident at school. That's all I'll say. Miharu still needs time to move on from it, and I promised I wouldn't tell anyone about it."

"She didn't transform there, did she?"

"If only…" She replied halfheartedly. "But please, don't ask her about it. It'll only set her off, and she's near uncontrollable then."

Shigure could only let out a small laugh and smile. "She really is Kyo's daughter, isn't she?" He remembered all the times Kyo lost control of his temper and all the repairs he had to make to his home.

"That she is." Tohru said with a sad smile. "That she is…and that leads me to my next dilemma."

"And that is?"

"Telling her, her father actually is alive," She replied, "and telling Kyo he has a daughter. Since I thought he was dead, I always told her he died before she was born. God, I'm more scared seeing Kyo than I am Akito-sama." The thought scared Tohru so much she wanted to pull her hair out.

Shigure let his mind process the thought of how Kyo would react meeting Miharu. He giggled a little as his mind let them play out. "Oh, I imagine he'll be surprised." He then looked at the door, as he heard the sound of tires crushing the gravel outside.

"That would be Hatori." Shigure then got an idea. "Say, Tohru-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Why don't you answer the door for me?"

Tohru noticed his sly smile, but agreed to it anyway. "Okay." She smiled, walking over and waiting for that knock on the door. Once she heard it, she eagerly opened it to let him in.

"Hello, Hatori-san."

* * *

><p>Back in the living room, Shoutas curiosity was getting the best of him, so he decided to start a conversation with Miharu.<p>

"So, Miharu." Shouta said, resting his chin in his hand and fixating his gray eyes on the girl as he introduced his self. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Shouta, this is Katara, Riku, and Hazuki." He said, pointing down the line and showing her who's who. When that didn't seem to really faze her, he decieded to take a different approach on getting her to talk. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen." She replied, her eyes shifting over to the boy. "Why?"

"Nothing, I just want to get to know you, that's all." Shouta said, giving her a smile. Somehow he made her feel a little more relaxed. "So, you turn into the Cat right?"

"Yeah. But why do you care?"

"I'm the same. I transform also." He confessed. He watched her blue eyes widen in disbelief.

"Are you serious?"

"Yup." He continued with a smile. "I'm the Ox. But I don't get the bad rap the previous one did."

She raised an eyebrow. "The previous one? Who was that?"

"My dad, Hatsuharu." Riku spoke up, looking over at Miharu. "Apparently the Ox is considered stupid because he let the Rat ride on his back on the way to where God had his party, and the Rat jumped off and arrived first, pretty much cutting him off."

"That and he is directionally challenged." Katara added.

"But what does that have to do with anything?" Riku asked.

"Adds to the bad rap he got?" She challenged.

"Hm, probably." Riku had to agree with Katara. No matter how many years passed, Haru could still get himself lost in an instant.

Miharu looked at the other teenagers in the room with her. She noticed they all had some odd physical features, Like Hazuki's violet eyes to the unusual shade of red that was Katara's hair, and the way all of them were unusually good looking.

"So let me ask all of you a question." Miharu asked. "Aside from Shouta, who else in here changes forms?" She was a little surprised when Hazuki, Katara, and Riku raised their hands. "The three of you? Okay, you have to be lying."

"No, really." Katara assured her. "All of the Zodiac are close to each other. I'm the Tiger."

"The Dragon." Riku smirked.

*cough*"Seahorse!"*cough* Hazuki joked, pretending to be clearing his throat, patting his chest for extra measure.

"Oh, shut up!" Riku said, punching Hazuki in the arm and looking embarrassed.

"Seahorse?" Miharu asked, . "Like, you change into a little seahorse? For real?"

"…I do…" Riku sighed, wanting to bang his head on the table. "Apparently the Dragon kept shrinking a little more every generation until, you know…"

"So what mom said about that Hatori guy was true then..." She said, looking up as if she was trying to retrieve the memory of their conversation.

"Always expect the crazy with the Sohma." Hazuki deadpanned.

"Which brings me to my next question." She said, leaning forward over the table to get a good look at Hazuki, resting her chin in her left hand, giving him an odd mix of a smile and a slight suspicious glare. "What do you change into?"

"You sure you wanna know?" He asked, leaning over the table like she did.

"Fire away." Hazuki had to admit, the girl wasn't afraid of anything it seemed. And he liked that.

He took a deep breath as he kept his violet eyes fixated her blue ones. "I was born year of the Rat."

That's when Miharu felt something break inside of her. It was a conflicting emotion. Somewhere deep inside it elated her, whereas something negative struck at her also. Then a thought struck her. "I think I get it now…"

"Get what?" Hazuki asked, confused.

"I know why we each have that feeling we've known each other forever." She replied, rememering that moment before she ended up on the ground with Hazuki. "Eternal rivalry. They always hated each other, even more so after the banquet incident."

"Yeah…" Hazuki replied, lowering his head a bit, feeling a bit disappointed that it wasn't something more she felt. Then something gave him the power to ask the impossible. "But don't you think, you know, that maybe it could change?"

"What could change?" Katara asked, butting in on their conversation.

"The relationship between the Cat and Rat." He continued. He turned quickly when he heard a sardonic laugh coming from Miharu's direction. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing." She said, slowing down on her laughter. "What you asked just sounds like lunacy. God himself probably couldn't change it even if he wanted too."

Her admission was like a stab in the heart for Hazuki until he heard something.

"_Don't worry my dear little Rat. She will see soon…"_

Hazuki jumped about a foot into the air as he frantically looked around.

"Dude, are you okay?" Riku was almost afraid to ask as he leaned away from frantic looking boy.

"You didn't hear that?" He asked, looking at Riku like he was crazy for not hearing the soothing and melodic voice he had just heard.

"No?" Riku was really starting to feel uncomfortable now as he leaned further away, nudging up against Katara.

"It was probably just Hatori you heard." Shouta said, hoping to calm the boy down. He could see that something had set off Hazuki. "I just heard someone walk into the house."

Hazuki decided to play along. "Yeah, probably just Hatori…" Turning back to face forward his eyes stopped on Miharu. _"No, that was definitely not Hatori. It was unlike anyone's I've ever heard. It was so reassuring and it sounded so familiar…"_

All of a sudden, with no warning, the slider door to the living room was flung open with great speed. On the other side was Hatori, scanning the room, his grayish brown eyes stopping on their target; Miharu.

_'I seriously thought Shigure was kidding. But then Tohru-kun is here also, and...'_

She was a bit unsettled by his wide eyed gaze. She was about to say something, but her mother and Shigure had followed him and and Tohru intervened. "Miharu, I want you to meet Hatori-san."

"Hatori?" She asked, examining him from head to toe. He was very nicely dressed, wearing charcoal colored slacks, a sky blue dress shirt with a charcoal tie, and the long white doctors coat, a large black bag in hand. "The seahorse guy?"

Hatori's face went serious as he gave a faint blush and looked over at Tohru. "You told her I turned into a seahorse?"

"Well, you did." She smiled. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, you were so cute and small."

Hatori looked away, refusing to let embarrassment take over. He went into doctor mode and strode over to Miharu, setting down next to her. "Hello Miharu. I am indeed the 'seahorse guy', Hatori. Now, which hand did you hurt?"

"Huh? Oh! This one…" She replied, holding up her right hand for him to examine. She could tell from the doorway he was a good looking guy, but once he close enough to her, she noticed he was very handsome with his young looking face and the way his hair and eye color closely matched each other only made him look better. She snapped out of admiring him once she felt a sharp pain shoot through her arm. "Ow! What the hell! That hurts!"

Hatori was taken back by her rough demeanor. _'I think she's actually worse than Kyo…'_ He thought, regrouping his self and continuing. "I'm sorry, Miharu." He apologized, grabbing her hand with one of his own, then going for an ace bandage in his bag with the other. "It looks like you've sprained it pretty bad. Can I ask what you decided to hit?"

Miharu pointed off to her right. "Him."

In that direction was Hazuki. He looked at the boy and it was then Hatori remembered Shigure saying he had a black eye. "Heh."

Hazuki gave the older man a slight glare. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really." Hatori replied, looking back over and wrapping Miharu's hand with care. "Shigure told me you had a black eye, I just didn't really believe it until I saw it. I must say, I'm rather impressed, Miharu. The bruise almost matches his eye color."

Shigure looked hurt. "I wasn't lying, Haa-san!"

"Hatori-san, don't encourage her!" Tohru pleaded. She was already upset with the fact her daughter had hit the son of one of her best friends, she didn't another friend egging her on to continue to do so.

"No way!" Riku exclaimed, nearly crawling on the table to get a better look. He then bust out in laughter. "Holy crap, he's right!"

"Wow, that didn't take long to worsen at all!" Katara gasped, Shouta leaning over her to get a look.

"Miharu, you're awesome." He praised, looking at the girl like she was a hero.

Hatori had finished up with Miharu, and sat over next to Hazuki and looked at his eye.

"Well, I can tell she hit you pretty hard," He said, scrutinizing every millimeter of Hazuki's left eye, "But it doesn't look like there's a busted blood vessel in the eye or anything, so you'll be fine. Just ice it if it begins to swell anymore."

"Yeah, now I just gotta figure out how to explain to my parents that I got hit by a girl…" Hazuki sighed in frustration. "And not just any girl, the freaking Cat…! Dad's just gonna love this…"

"Okay Rat-boy, you're making this sound a lot worse than it should." Miharu seethed, balling up her fist in slight anger, ignoring the pain that took hold.

"Stop it right now!" Shigure demanded, raising his hand in the air. "I'm not having a fight break out in my house." Everyone, even Miharu, complied.

Hatori took the chance to speak. "No Hazuki, you're not to tell your parents about who hit you."

"Why?" Hazuki freaked. How on earth was he supposed to come up with a reason other than the truth?

"Because right now, nobody needs to know Miharu is here." Hatori replied. "And yes, that means everyone in this room." This made the teenagers feel uncomfortable. "You are not to tell your parents or anyone else for that matter. Not even Akito-sama."

"Why am I being put in the freaking dark?" The orange-haired girl exclaimed, banging her left hand on the table in anger and getting up, looking like she was about to kill.

Her outburst upset Tohru. "Miharu! Sit back down!"

"No! I wanna know!" She fought back. "Ever since you decided to move us out here, I've been kept in the dark! I'm sick of not knowing what we're getting into! I know you said it was dangerous coming back here, but I'm not a kid dammit! I think I've proven to you that I can handle whatever you or anyone else can throw at me! Now tell me what's going on!"

Tohru looked up and into her daughters eyes. She knew she couldn't protect Miharu forever. Not that she wouldn't try it though. All she wanted was her daughter to not know the misery that potentially lay ahead of her. But what she saw in those matching blue eyes was that Miharu was serious about wanting to know the challenges she would have to face. She knew her daughter had the potential to overcome them. She had Kyo's fight in her after all. And she knew the first, and one of the most difficult ones she would have to achieve.

"Miharu, how would you like to meet God?"

Miharu didn't seem to hear the terrified gasps of the others in the room as she thought for a moment about her answer.

"Challenge accepted."

End of chapter 3!


	4. Meeting God

**Summary: **Kyo and Tohru married after graduation, but she suddenly vanished at the urging of Akito. It's been almost seventeen years since anyone in the Sohma family has seen her, but now she's suddenly come home, and with an orange-haired reason…

**The Last Banquet**

Chapter 4- Meeting God

Once he was back at the Sohma estate, Hatori's mood seemed dire. He absolutely didn't want to, but had no choice but to confront Akito with the news of the final Zodiacs arrival. And the steps he took to Akitos room seemed long and heavy, as if he had cinder blocks tied to each foot.

Once he reached the door, he paused for the longest time. And with a heavy breath, he finally raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Akito-sama?"

Inside he heard a small cough and some rustling. "What do you want, Hatori?" He didn't sound too pleased to be interrupted.

"I have some news for you." He replied, not letting Akitos horrid demeanor affect him. "May I come in?"

A moment passed before he answered. "Fine…"

Inside the dimly lit room, Akito was sitting at a small table, his son sitting right by his side. He looked very much like Akito, but with chocolate brown hair and a softer gaze.

Hatori had entered the room and bowed before him. "This had better be good, Hatori."

"I can assure you, it is well worth your time, Akito-sama." He replied, raising up to look at the pair. Hatori took a breath and prepared his self.

"Go on, spit it out already!" Akito rushed, giving Hatori a nasty glare, and causing Arata to jump.

He looked up at Akito and made eye contact. "Akito-sama, the Cat has finally arrived."

His teal eyes nearly bugged out of his head at Hatori's news. "When? Who gave birth to the little monster? Why did it take so long for that filthy creature to show itself!"

Hatori waited a minute for Akito to calm down. "Actually, the Cat was born sixteen years ago."

Akitos angry look began to take on one of serious inquisition. "Sixteen years-how can that be! Who's the one hiding it and why?" His rage took over and he flung off everything that was sitting on the table, causing Arata to scurry away from his furious father.

"Apparently the she's been living in Hokkaido all these years." Hatori replied, almost unfazed by the fit.

"Why Hokkaido!"

"Because that's where she was born, and that's where she lived until recently." He simply replied.

Akito was ready to storm over and strangle Hatori. "You know damn well that's impossible! How can someone in the Sohma be born that far away!"

"Because her mother moved there. She found out she was pregnant with her after she left the Sohma."

He was nearly unhinged now. "Who is that monsters mother?"

Hatori fought with himself for a moment. _'This must be done…'_

"Tohru Honda."

* * *

><p>It had been a few days since anyone last saw Tohru or Miharu. It nearly killed Hazuki as he tried to think of a lie to tell his parents about his black eye, as Miharu was to remain secret, and he didn't want to know the consequences of betraying Hatori.<p>

Hazuki was in class, joking around with Riku and fending off the advances of a few girls in the class.

"So hey, have you seen Miharu or anything?" Riku asked, twirling a mechanical pencil between his fingers.

Hazuki felt something heavy in his chest. "No, why?"

"I don't know," He replied, letting the pencil fall and leaning back in his chair, "I just think it's weird we haven't seen her since we met her, that's all."

Hazuki wasn't sure what he was getting at. "Riku, what are you talking about?"

"I'm not too sure myself, come to think of it." He replied, sitting back up and scratching the back of his head. "Ominous feeling, I suppose?"

"About what?" Hazuki raised an eyebrow. Just then, one of their many cousins entered the classroom, looking for them.

"Hazuki! Riku!" A girl called out from the doorway. She looked to be about a year or two younger than them, with light brown eyes and golden hair with a hint of brown to it that hung down all the way to her waist. "Come here!"

"Hanako?" Riku asked, giving the girl a strange look. "What's she doing here on the second years floor?"

"I don't know." Hazuki replied, getting up and heading over to the girl. "Let's go see."

Once at the door, Hanako led them out and away from the crowd. Down the hall and heading down a stairway, she stopped them.

"So, what's up, Hanako?" Hazuki asked, curiosity beginning to get the better of him. "Why are you in this part of the school? And shouldn't you be in class right now, actually?"

"Oh, I skipped it." She smiled, waving it off like it was no big deal. "I can miss an hour, it won't hurt my grades. Anyways, I have to ask you something."

"What is it?" Riku asked, leaning against the wall.

She didn't look like she was sure where to begin. "Well…have you two felt anything, well, strange lately?"

A bolt of fear shot through Hazuki's body. "S-strange? Strange as in how?"

"Oh, I don't know…!" Hanako sighed, shrugging and looking down as if in confusion. "It's just, for the past few days, I keep getting this feeling. I feel like everything has come together! Like I've been waiting forever for something, but I don't know what that something is. Don't you feel it too?"

Riku and Hazuki automatically knew what Hanako was talking about. It was Miharu who set off that chain of emotions in the Zodiac. After all, everyone had waited sixteen years for her to come along and complete them. But it was kind of hard to not tell Hanako they knew why.

"Well, yeah, I've felt it." Hazuki admitted, but leaving it at that.

Hanako sighed in relief. "Good! I'm glad to know I'm not crazy."

"You're not crazy, Hana." Riku laughed, ruffling up her long hair. "Now be a good girl and get back to class." He and Hazuki were getting ready to leave when Hanako stopped them.

"Hey! Wait a second!" She called out, fixing her hair in the process. "There's something else!"

"What?" Hazuki asked.

"Have you seen the new girl, yet?" Hanako asked, hesitating a bit. "I heard she's a second year like you two."

"So?" Riku replied, sort of blowing it off. Students transferred in and out all the time, it didn't seem that big a deal to him. Hazuki on the other hand had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"No, what new girl?" He asked, taking more of an interest than his friend did.

"Well, I heard she's going to be in your class." Hanako replied. "She's from Hokkaido I heard a teacher say, a pretty girl with blue eyes and orange hair."

"Orange hair?" Riku was now catching on. "Hey, you don't think it- Ow!"

"Shut up!" Hazuki hissed under his breath, nudging Riku in the ribs, though a bit harder than intended.

Riku obliged, and Hanako just chalked it up to the two being themselves. "Anyway, I heard her last name is Sohma. Don't you think that's weird?"

Hazuki and Riku really were at a loss for words. They knew exactly who she was talking about, yet were sworn to secrecy by Hatori. This time it was Riku who thought fast.

"Dunno, but we'll go check it out." He smiled, tugging at Hazuki's jacket and getting him to come along as he began to climb back up the stairs. "Later, Hana!"

Something about his answer didn't satisfy her, but Hanako accepted it for now and returned to class. "Fine, but if you find anything, you better let me know!"

Once out of earshot of Hanako, Hazuki spoke up. "Do you really think Miharu goes here now?" The thought made his heart beat a little quicker than normal.

"Maybe." Riku shrugged as they continued their way back to class. "She has to go to school somewhere, and I guess since a bunch of us Sohmas already go here, her mom thought it would be a good idea to send her here."

"I guess that makes sense…" Hazuki replied, looking out the window in hopes of catching a glance at the Cat.

Back in class, everyone was seated, as study hall had ended and regular lessons were about to begin again. Once settled in, their teacher made an announcement.

"Okay, class, we have a surprise transfer student." He began. Hazuki and Riku shot a glance at each other, thinking the same thing. "She just moved here from Hokkaido, so please make her feel welcome." And in came Miharu, decked out in the Kaibara uniform, and from what Hazuki could tell behind the tough looking exterior, she looked terrified. "Class, this is Miharu Sohma. Anyone have any questions for her?"

A number hands shot up, as did the running mouths of some students, ranging from her hair color to her relation with the other Sohmas in the room. But Miharu had an answer of her own.

"I'm not interested in any of your questions, so don't even bother asking them." She was flat out blunt in how she answered. Even the teacher was stunned.

"Ah, well then, how about you go take that empty seat in the back behind Ikeda-san there." He said, pointing to the corner seat by the window.

Miharu was quick with her actions, and was seated in no time. Even though she was trying to ignore them, she could still hear the voices and feel the unwanted stares of everyone in class. And even as the teacher silenced the class, Hazuki, who was sitting in the next row diagonally from her, couldn't keep from staring back at her.

"Hazuki!" The teacher barked. "Face forward and pay attention!"

He turned instantly. "Sorry, sensei." But even after being scolded, he continued with his actions, noticing she never looked up from her notebook.

'_What's wrong with her? She looks so scared…'_

* * *

><p>After a day that seemed like an eternity, Miharu was the first one out of the classroom once the bell rang. Hazuki noticed the girl nearly run down another girl as she bolted from the class.<p>

That's when he got the urge to chase after her. "Riku, I'll see you later, there's something I gotta do…"

"Do what?" Riku asked, watching Hazuki ignore him as he rushed out of the class. "Hey!"

Out in the halls, Hazuki zipped past anyone who was in his way, narrowly avoiding a number of girls and getting called a few choice words for barreling through a few groups.

Once he got through the main entrance and out into the courtyard, he scanned the area for any sight Miharu. He thought he saw a glimpse of orange near the gate, so he immediately ran towards it. As he got outside the gate and looked around, he could see Miharu and Tohru at the corner of the gate. He knew he should never eavesdrop on someone, but this nagging feeling in his gut told him otherwise.

Being quick, he snuck up on them with enough grace to casually stroll behind them without drawing attention, and hear their conversation with ease.

"So mom, you've been awfully quiet." Miharu said, examining her mother and body language. "What's going on? I can tell there's something really bothering you…"

Tohru desperately looked up into the sky as she inhaled deeply, then letting her head fall in what looked like distress. "Miharu we're…you're going to meet Akito-sama today…"

Miharu stopped in her tracks, her eyes nearly doubling their size. "Really?" She didn't seem scared, but rather like she anticipated it.

Tohru looked in disbelief at her daughters reaction. "You're not scared?"

The hair on the back of Hazuki's neck stood on end as he continued to tail the pair. _'Hell, I'm scared just knowing what she's getting into!'_

Miharu even surprised herself. "No, I-I'm not, I guess." She said, readjusting her bag so it sat more comfortably on her shoulders.

"Then how do you feel about this?" Tohru seemed to panic for Miharu. "Miharu, this is a serious situation you're getting into!"

"I know!" She nearly snapped, catching herself, looking away and fixating on some nonexistent object in the horizon. "I just…I just feel like it's been a long time coming. Like this really needs to happen."

Tohru just stood there, mouth slightly agape as she gazed at Miharu, in shock and wonder. She suddenly stepped towards the girl, and enveloped her in a loving hug. "You're a very brave girl, Miharu. It's been twenty years since I first met Akito-sama and to this day I still can't summon up the courage you have to face him…"

"Yeah," Miharu said, letting go of her mother and trudging forward, "but if he screws with either of us he'll regret ever doing so, I promise you that."

"Miharu…" Tohru sighed, with a small smile as she followed her daughter.

Hazuki couldn't think. Instead he forced his self to continue on, following the pair and wondering where they were going, as it didn't seem to be the main house.

"Where are they going?" He asked softly, hanging back a little more as they entered a small street he knew to be filled with Sohmas who didn't want to or weren't distinguished enough to live inside the large compound where everyone else did. "Hey, that house…isn't that Kazuma-sans?"

Indeed it was Kazumas they were entering. "Why's he letting them stay there? How does he know Miharu and her mom?" He knew Kazuma was Kyo's adoptive father, and was one of the kindest people he ever knew. But he didn't think Kazuma would let total strangers stay with him. He decided to sneak in a little closer to figure it out.

After a nearly ten minutes of skulking about, he heard footsteps at the front door, and dove behind a bush near the fence. Coming out of the house was Tohru, Kazuma, and Miharu, who had changed out of her school uniform into a pair of short charcoal colored shorts, black mid-calf boots with gray socks that ended above the knee, and a short sleeved, olive green shirt that was a bit short on her frame. Far from trying to be impressionable in Hazuki's opinion.

"Tohru-kun, Miharu-chan, are you sure you don't want me to accompany you?" Kazuma asked, Hazuki noticing the worried look through the leaves. "I know how Akito can be, and if it gets to be out of hand, I'd like to be there and make sure you're safe…"

Tohru gave him a warm smile. "Thank you Shishou-san, really, but I think we can handle it."

"Yeah, grandpa, it's cool." Miharu added, giving a sly grin. "Besides, if he touches me or mom, I'll beat the hell out of him."

Hazuki had to cover his own mouth to keep from shouting out. _''Grandpa'? What the- Kazuma-san doesn't have any grandkids!"_

"Well, we better be on our way." Tohru said, though looking less than thrilled to be leaving.

Kazuma smiled at the two. "Very well, please keep yourselves safe then."

"Bye." Miharu waved, walking down the short path and following Tohru.

"Miharu, you've really warmed up to Shishou-san, haven't you?" Tohru smiled, with a small laugh.

"Well, he is my grandfather, right?" Miharu shrugged. "Besides, he's pretty cool..."

As soon as they out of his line of vision, fear washed over Kazuma. "This doesn't feel right." He said turning back into his home. "I'm going to call him…"

Hazuki had to slap his own self to knock himself out of the daze he was in. "No way Kazuma-san has a grandchild, he doesn't even have biological kids of his own…! And there's no way Miharu can be his…" He said, sneaking out of the bushes to keep on trailing the pair. "I know Kyo was married for a short time, but I heard she had died, so he never had any kids…did he?" Sure, Miharu looked like him he thought, but she was from Hokkaido, and really he didn't think it was possible. "But then again her being born in Hokkaido is really weird itself…" As he thought more on it, a feeling of dread started to grab hold of him.

And as he got closer to the Sohma estate, that feeling of dread became more and more suffocating. Once he saw Tohru and Miharu enter the main gate, he decided to sneak in another way. He didn't want to be questioned on why he was somewhere he shouldn't be, even if the Rat was 'Gods' favorite, he could still get in trouble if Akito saw fit.

A few yards down behind a sakura tree there was a hole in the concrete fence, convenient as on the opposite side, a cluster of smaller trees had hidden it from the inside also. Once he crawled through, he left his bag hidden between two trees, making sure no one was around as he quietly made his way to Akito's part of the house.

* * *

><p>Inside a large chilly room, illuminated only by the porch doors that were open, Akito was sitting face to face with Tohru, Miharu a few feet off to her left. Akitos face was expressionless as he stared Tohru down, who tried to stay strong as she kept eye contact with the matriarch.<p>

"So, Honda-san," He began calmly enough, "I see you've returned after all these years."

"Yes." She replied, trying not to reveal how scared she was. "It really has been a long time, Akito-sama."

"Too long it seems." He smiled wickedly, then focusing his eyes on Miharu. "I see you've brought something of mine, haven't you?" He slowly stood up and strolled over, kneeling down to look at Miharu, grabbing and examining a string of her auburn orange hair. "I suppose she does look like you. Tell me," He said, looking back over at Tohru, "why didn't you bring her to me sooner, you filthy little witch?"

Miharu snapped. "Excuse me?" She grabbed his thin wrist, which forced his attention onto her, though somewhere inside it terrified her.

"Miharu, no!" Tohru cried, but she didn't seem to hear it.

"I don't care if you are my 'God', insult my mother again and I'll freaking kill you." She warned, her grip tightening on Akito's wrist as she stared into his eyes, with murder in hers. But what she didn't intend was to find herself on the ground a second later, the right side of her face stinging.

"Wh-what…?" She couldn't believe it. _'But he's so small and frail looking…!'_

"How dare you try and threaten me you little insect!" He screeched, standing up only to kick her in the ribs, knocking the wind out of her. "You have no idea who you're messing with!" He then went down in an attempt to strangle her. "I'll make you sorry you were ever born, you filthy little parasite…! You're not needed anyway! Nobody will ever care!"

"Akito-sama, get off of her!" Tohru cried, lunging from her spot on the ground and tackling him of her only child. This threw Akito off and stunned him, giving Tohru a chance to get Miharu up and make a run for it.

"Miharu, hurry!" Tohru ordered, helping her off the ground and trying to run for the door. _'This was a huge mistake, I never should have brought her here…!'_

"If you leave, I'll make do on my promise, Honda-san." Akito growled, the words stopping Tohru in her tracks. "I'll make sure to drain every drop of blood your precious Kyo has in his body. Do you really want your daughter to meet her father for the first time at his own funeral?"

Miharu on the other hand was confused as she saw the look of horror in her mothers eyes. "Mom, what's he talking about?"

Tohru took in a deep breath, shaking as she did so. "Miharu, sweetheart, there's something important I want you to know." She looked her daughter in the eye as she declared her next statement. "You're father isn't dead, Miharu. I thought he was, but he's still alive."

There were footsteps pounding towards the room they were in, yet Miharu didn't seem to notice them. "You're lying…you have to be, how could you lie to me like that! And for sixteen years? Why the hell would you do something like that to me?"

"Miharu, I thought he was dead, really I did!" Tohru contested, grabbing Miharu's shoulders. "I'm telling you the truth, here and now! Your father didn't die before you were born, there was never any accident, the only accident there was, was letting Akito-sama know we got married!"

"Shut up! It's your fault for marrying that monster!" Akito shouted, storming over and reaching in his robes for something, yet Tohru or Miharu didn't pay attention.

Miharu was stunned. "Mom, what are you saying, you left him then? I thought you loved him…!"

It was now or never. "Not by choice, honey. It broke my heart to leave! Akito-sama threatened to kill us if I didn't leave the Sohma!" Miharu couldn't believe it. Tohru ignored the sound of crashing doors as she defiantly looked at Akito. "If I didn't, he was going to kill your father in front of me, then myself! Because I loved your father with all my heart, I chose to leave! It's because of this man right here that I lost my husband and you lost your father!"

He was lunging at Tohru now, and from his robes, he pulled out a small knife, the same one he was going to use to kill her that night nearly two decades ago. "I should have killed you then!"

Tohru was paralyzed with fear as Akito approached her. She couldn't move, and she had tried with all her might.

"Tohru!" Shouted an orange-haired man, his red eyes wide with fear, yet it was overshadowed by a deafening cry from Akito.

"Kyo, don't!" Kazuma ordered, throwing his arm in front of him to stop him, but to no avail.

"Mom! No!" Miharu cried, attempting to throw herself in front of the blade, grabbing at Akitos arm in the process.

* * *

><p>Hazuki had heard painful shrieks and cries of terror as he raced round the property. Nearly out of breath, he finally found Akito's room, rushing through the neatly tended garden, he jumped up the step and rushed into the room.<p>

He skidded to a stop at the sight before him, and everything seemed to be going in slow motion. "Wha..what the hell is going on…?" He saw Kazuma and Kyo in the doorway, Akito trying to stab Tohru, and Miharu throwing herself between her mother and their murderous God.

"Miharu, no!" Hazuki cried, finding the strength to run over and try to stop her from killing herself. "Miharu!"

At that moment, nothing seemed to exist to Miharu. As she jumped between Akito and her mother, the blade had grazed her left arm, and the knife traveled down to her wrist, where it had caught her bracelet.

The sound of the chain snapping and the beads bouncing and scattering across the wooden floor had stopped everyone in their tracks. All except Miharu.

After all, she was much stronger in her cursed form.

**End of Chapter 4**


	5. A Little Honesty

**Summary: **Kyo and Tohru married after graduation, but she suddenly vanished at the urging of Akito. It's been almost eighteen years since anyone in the Sohma family has seen her, but now she's suddenly come home, and with an orange-haired reason…

**Authors Notes:** I have indeed messed up my timeline! D: So I'm going back and adding a year to everything. And yes, I decided to keep Akito a man in this version. I know the manga revealed him to be a woman, but that's the beauty of both versions. They make Akito such a versatile character.

And this chapter was so freaking hard to write! I tried so hard and three rewrites later this is the end result. I do hope it's worthy, if not, be gentle…

**The Last Banquet**

Chapter 5- A Little Honesty

Hazuki had heard painful shrieks and cries of terror as he raced round the property. Nearly out of breath, he finally found Akito's room, rushing through the neatly tended to garden, he jumped up the step and rushed into the room.

He skidded to a stop at the sight before him, and everything seemed to be going in slow motion. "Wha…what the hell is going on…?" He saw Kazuma and Kyo in the doorway, Akito trying to stab Tohru, and Miharu throwing herself between her mother and their murderous God.

"Miharu, no!" Hazuki cried, finding the strength to run over and try to stop her from killing herself. "Miharu!"

At that moment, nothing seemed to exist to Miharu. As she jumped between Akito and her mother, the blade had grazed her left arm, and the knife traveled down to her wrist, where it had caught her bracelet.

The sound of the chain snapping and the beads bouncing and scattering across the wooden floor had stopped everyone in their tracks. All except Miharu.

After all, she was much stronger in her cursed form.

"Mi…Miharu…!" Tohru gasped as her daughter shoved her out of the way with supernatural force, causing her to skid a few feet from her and Akito.

Before she had a chance to rush over to her daughters aide, Kyo and Kazuma rushed over to hers.

"Oh, my- Tohru-kun, you're bleeding!" Kazuma said with shock as he grabbed her shoulder, pulling away when he felt something oozing between his fingers, the crimson color soaking into her light pink shirt.

"Tohru, are you okay!" Kyo was opposite of Kazuma, arm around Tohru's waist and a hand grasping at her wrist, he was about to pull her up and take her away when he caught sight of Miharu. "O-oh my God…what…what is that?"

Tohru's eyes began to well up with tears as she forced herself to look at Kyo. "Your daughter, Kyo…"

He looked from Tohru to Miharu, his unbelieving expression never changing. _'My…my daughter…?'_

Hazuki was on his knees, his hand covering his nose and mouth as he tried not to vomit from the horrendous smell that suddenly filled the room. He was ten feet away from what he thought was still Miharu. Yet what stood in her place was something that may as well of came out of a nightmare.

Her frame had grown larger than what she normally stood, as she easily towered over Akito, and her skin had taken on the form of what looked like thick, pale brown leather, veins visible through the skin. Her limbs were so thin it was nearly sickening. Her arms had grown nearly double the length a humans should be, her now large hands taking on what looked like a paw like shape, and her legs had taken on the form of what looked like a cats hind legs, yet long and deformed, her feet being lengthily and grotesque. On her head, two long pointed ears protruded from her head through her orange hair. Her neck was long, and her face, once round and doll-like had taken on the profile of a cats'. The round eyes she had a moment ago had become narrower and slanted, and the blue color had been replaced with a sharp red that glittered as they menacingly bore into Akito's teal ones.

"Wha-what the hell is that?" He coughed, keeling over with one hand on his stomach now, squinting at her through his burning eyes. "Miha…Miharu?"

Akito had stood rooted to the ground in a moment of pure paranoia. Unlike Kyo, who had ran in fear the last time his bracelet was removed in front of him, Miharu had stood there, fearless of who he was. Or what she had become. From what he could tell, she actually embraced the form. At least the smile on her face said so.

For the first time in his life, Akito was terrified of the Cat. He turned around to run away, fearful for his life. It was barely a few seconds before he felt a sharp pain in his back, causing him to stumble forward and fall.

"Miharu, don't!" Tohru cried, reaching out to stop her, failing as Kyo and Kazuma kept hold of her.

Weakly he tried to lift himself off the ground, gasping as he tried to inhale. Once up, he took a chance and stole a glance behind him. The Cat was right there, quick and graceful with her movements.

In an instant, Akito found his self lifted off the ground, then bouncing off the floor and into a wall.

"You can screw with me all you want…" Miharu growled, her soft voice now a chilling high pitched screech that seemed to echo. She bent over and picked up Akito by the throat, slamming him against the wall so hard that he coughed up blood. "But I won't accept you trying to kill my mother!"

Kyo looked on in horror. He lost his grip on Tohru as he watched Akito's death become imminent.

"No, Miharu, no!" Tohru screamed, breaking free of the grip the two men had on her. Miharu had her deformed fist raised, ready to strike Akito.

"Tohru-kun, stop!" Kazuma shouted, reaching after the woman, but in vain.

"Don't Miharu, please don't!" Tohru begged, running over to stop her child. She skidded to a halt when she saw a blur of light brown and navy blue actually tackle the raging Cat spirit to the ground with enough force to land them at least four feet from Akito.

"Miharu, knock it off!" Hazuki bellowed, taking down the monster that possessed her.

"Hazuki-kun…?" Tohru asked, wide eyed at what she just witnessed, Kyo and Kazuma sliding into a stop right behind her.

Not only was he brave enough to tackle down the one thing even God was now afraid of, but once he touched her, Miharu had reverted back into her normal body.

She was thrown for a loop when her head bounced off the floor, but even more confused when a second later she realized Hazuki was on top of her, both her tiny wrists easily held together by one of Hazuki's hands.

"I-I-what's-!"

"What you're doing is suicide!" Hazuki scolded, breathing heavily and shaking as he stared into her eyes. "What the hell were you thinking, Miharu?"

She was shocked at his attitude. "What am I…? He was trying to kill my mother! What he hell would you do in that situation!"

"Definitely not kill him!" He shot back, yanking her up off the ground where she wobbled a bit, shaky and a little weak from the adrenaline suddenly leaving her body. "He's not worth that!" He then turned to her parents, but in the doorway, he caught sight of Arata, his green eyes shimmering in horror from the sight of Miharu and his father on the ground. "Oh, no…"

"F-father?" He asked, voice crackling from fear. He wanted to run near and see if he was still alive, but he was scared of Miharu. He had heard that the Cat had turned in to a disgusting creature, yet he never imagined it'd be as terrifying as he had just seen. Instead, Arata ran back, screaming for one of the maids or attendants to help.

"C'mon, let's get outta here while we can!" Hazuki said, turning to high tail it out of the main estate, grabbing Miharu's wrist and pulling her toward the open doors leading outside.

Kyo, Tohru, and Kazuma hesitated a few seconds before they followed Hazuki's actions and got out of Akito's room while they could. They would worry about would happen to Miharu later.

Once out of the garden and skimming the sides of houses that lined the wall, Hazuki finally found the hole in the wall that he had snuck through earlier. "Through here! It's the quickest way outta here!"

Frantically, Kazuma had urged the teenagers to go through first as he looked around, making sure they weren't being followed. The moment all the adults were out, they sprinted towards Kazumas house.

Yet as they ran, Miharu's body became heavier and weaker, trembling more by the second until she fell to her knees. She let out an ear-piercing cry, followed immediately by long, heavy sobs as she hugged herself.

"Miharu, what's wrong?" Tohru panicked, crawling to the ground in the hopes of calming her down. "Miharu?"

'_It was too much!" _She thought, hugging herself harder as she wailed. _"Meeting him was too much! Why was it so hard? I'm so scared! What's wrong with me?'_

Kyo and Kazuma were taken aback. Aside from the fact they didn't know what was ailing her, they had no idea how to comfort a girl.

But Miharu didn't answer Tohru, no matter how much she pleaded to know. She just kept crying her eyes out, visibly shaking. It even shook Hazuki to the core watching.

* * *

><p>Yuki was rushing over to Kazumas after receiving a phone call from Kyo. He had told him something huge had went down at the main house, and it had involved his son and Tohru. Yuki had thought he was joking at first. Tohru had been gone for years, there's no way she'd come back without letting anyone know first. But the severe tone in his voice made him think otherwise.<p>

"What's going on?" Yuki asked himself, practically speed walking down the street, nearing Kazumas. A hundred thoughts were going through his head. What Kyo had said couldn't be true. But he couldn't elaborate on it more because Hatori had stopped him.

"Let me guess," Hatori said, rolling down the window of his car, "you're heading to Kazumas also?"

Yuki's expression was blank as he blinked at Hatori. "Uhm, yes…you're…?"

"Going there also, yes." He answered, looking forward. "Get in, I'll give you a ride."

"O-okay." Yuki replied, walking around and getting in the small black sedan. Once Hatori began moving, Yuki spoke. "So Hatori, do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Not exactly." He replied. "I only know that I received a call from Kazuma saying I needed to be there. A few of them were hurt and he needed to speak with me."

"Huh, I wonder what's going on?" Yuki mused, looking out of the window. _'A few of them?"_

"I don't know, but I wonder if it has anything with Akito being rushed to the hospital…" Hatori said, making a left turn onto another street.

Yuki's violet eyes widened with surprise. "Really? What happened?"

"Apparently he was attacked by something." Hatori answered, slowing down as he was approaching Kazumas house. "His room was slightly damaged also. I haven't seen it yet."

"'Something'?" Yuki asked, his eyes still on Hatori as he reached for the door handle.

"Yes," He replied, reaching in the back for his bag, "but I'm hoping to get some answers here."

Both exited the car and made their way to the entrance of Kazumas home. The closer they got, the more Yuki could feel the somber atmosphere the home currently possessed. Hatori had knocked on the door and was quickly greeted by Kazuma.

"Thank you for coming quickly, Hatori-san." Kazuma said, giving a small bow to show his sincerity. "Really."

"Yes, well, what exactly is going on, Kazuma?" He asked as he and Yuki removed their shoes and stepped into the house.

Kazuma looked as if he didn't know where to begin. "Well, first things first, Tohru-kun I believe needs some stitches. Akito went after her with a knife and managed to knick her pretty deep…"

Yuki felt as if he life had been drained out of him. "Toh…Tohru-kun? But I thought Kyo was joking…!" He had seemed to go unheard, though.

"Went after her with a knife?" Hatori asked, his eyes growing a bit wider in question. "Why?"

Kazuma turned and began leading them to the living room where Kyo and Tohru were waiting. "I don't know. It was chaos when Kyo and I arrived. I'm hoping now we get some answers."

'_Tohru-kun and Kyo…'_ His expression changed from shock to a bit of worry. "Wait, Kazuma, where's Hazuki? Kyo said he was here."

"He's upstairs with Miharu-chan." Kazuma replied, looking back at the gray-haired man.

"Miharu?" Yuki questioned, turning into the room where Kazuma had just entered.

"All in good time, Yuki." Hatori replied.

As he entered the room, Yuki nearly fell from the shock. It really was Tohru sitting there, in the flesh and literally covered in blood, as Kyo lifted a towel away from the base of her neck to check the bleeding. As he slowly strode over, Tohru returned the same amazed look he wore on his face. Taking a place across the table from her and Kyo, he finally spoke.

"Tohru-kun…is it really you?"

She fought tears as she tried to smile at him, Hatori currently disinfecting the side of her neck. "Yes. How are you, Yuki-kun?"

"Well, at a loss for words, really." He replied, taking in all her features, the shock making him feel a little numb. "I'm just, wow…so where have you been these past seventeen years?"

Tohru gave a halfhearted little laugh at his response as she looked down at the table, with what looked like shame lining her face. "Hokkaido."

Hatori didn't waste any time at all. "What happened at the main house today? Akito was sent to the hospital and I had heard his room was wrecked. Whatever happened scared Arata very much, the maids couldn't decipher what he was saying at first. "

Tohru winced a bit in pain as Hatori inserted the first stitch, even though she was numbed. "Ow!"

"I'm sorry," Hatori responded, "I'll try to be a little more gentle. Now, can you explain what happened?"

"And how did it involve my son?" Yuki added. With Akito severely injured and his part of the house damaged, he could only wonder what kind of trouble Hazuki had gotten into. And what he could get into.

Tohru took a deep breath before she began. "First off, Yuki-kun, Kyo and I have a daughter. Her name is Miharu." Yuki's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped slightly. "I know, I've been getting that response ever since I brought her here. Anyways, I had to take her to meet Akito-sama today."

Yuki didn't quite get it. "Why take her to meet Akito-sama? She could have blended in well with the other Sohmas and he would have never known."

"If only." Tohru sighed, returning her gaze at Yuki. "She was born with a Zodiac curse, I had no choice but to eventually bring her back here." That's when Yuki looked like he was about loose his eyeballs.

He looked like a fish out of water as he tried to find the right words. "So your daughter is- what form is she?"

"The Cat." Kyo answered, chin resting in his hand and his red eyes looking at the former Rat. "Just like me."

"Oh my God…" Was all Yuki could say in response.

"Yes." Tohru continued. "That's why we went today. Akito-sama had to know she existed. But as we talked, he insulted me in front of her and Miharu, well, she didn't take like it. She threatened to kill him, so he started to attack her."

"Are you serious?" Kyo asked in shock. "She did that? Sure I always hated the guy, but I wouldn't threaten to kill Akito!"

"She did." Tohru replied, yet again wincing in pain as Hatori finished the stitches.

"All done." Hatori said, taping a large white bandage on her neck, urging her to continue. "Go on."

"Well," She said as she rubbed her neck, "he tried to choke her, so that's when I tackled him off her. As soon as we had the chance, I grabbed Miharu and turned to run when he threatened to kill Kyo. He didn't like my response to his threat, and Miharu confronted me with what Akito-sama said about Kyo." Tohru looked shamefully to the man on her right. "As long as she's been alive, I've always told her you were dead…"

Kyo's eyes widened with shock and hurt. "You what? Why?"

"I didn't know!" Tohru cried, grabbing his shoulder. "I swear I didn't! When she was born two months early and turned into a kitten, and according to what I knew of the curse back then, I just assumed you had died."

"Her assumption was correct from where she was, Kyo." Yuki said. "Before all this, the only way a Sohma could be born cursed was if the previous Zodiac had died." Kyo still looked frazzled and offended.

"Let her continue." Hatori urged. "Tohru-kun…"

"Yes. Well, I told Miharu it was Akito-samas fault she never knew Kyo, so Akito-sama was going to kill me." She said, lightly touching her bandaged neck.

"That's about when we came in." Kazuma said.

"And that's when Miharu threw herself between Akito-sama and myself. But as she did, the knife had broken Miharu's beads." She said, shuddering at the memory.

"You're kidding…" Yuki piped out.

"She's not." Kyo said, is face serious as he remembered watching Miharu transform in front of him. "I saw it. She's possessed by the Cat alright, but her form, it's different than mine." He didn't tell anyone, but it really bothered him.

"Different?" Hatori raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

The expression on Kyos face made it look like he was questioning himself, but he answered anyway. "It was more…the anatomy was more human…she still looked like herself."

"Really?" Hatori asked. "Do you think maybe it's because she was born a girl? Remember, all the previous Cats were born male, it may differ."

"I would think it would stay the same," Kazuma spoke up, "no matter the gender of the one cursed."

Tohru decided to take the opportunity to continue. "But once she transformed, she didn't back down in fear from Akito-sama. It was the opposite, he was terrified of her. As he ran away, she chased him, and she…" She couldn't say it.

"She nearly killed him." Kyo finished, looking over at Yuki. "Coughed up blood and everything." He couldn't help but feel a bit proud of Miharu though.

Hatori and Yuki looked on in horrified shock.

"Well, that answers the Akito mystery." Hatori said, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"But what does Hazuki have to do with this?" Yuki asked. The suspense was eating away at him.

"That's the interesting part." Tohru replied. Kyo and Kazuma looked on in agreement. "Right as Miharu was about to deliver a fatal blow to Akito-sama, he seemed to just appear out of nowhere and tackled her off of him and to the ground. But the second he touched her, she reverted back to her normal body."

Hatori looked on in serious interest. _'This sounds very familiar for some reason…something about the Rat and the Cat…'_

"Hazuki…?" Yuki was dumbfounded. "That's impossible. And she turned back to her normal self? Just from him touching her? How does that happen?"

"I don't get it either." Kyo said, eyes drifting upwards as if in thought. "But I'm kinda not getting a lot of things right now."

"Ever since Miharu-chan arrived here everything seems to be either falling in place or creating a new puzzle." Kazuma said. "This is a lot to take in. Especially for you, Kyo." He looked over at his adopted son. "How are you feeling about all of this?"

His red eyes seemed to stare into some far off horizon, a deeply thoughtful look on his face. "I don't know, Shishou. I can't seem to sum it all up in one word. Right now it's impossible. One day, life seems perfect. I graduate, manage to not get locked away by Akito, and I get married a year later. And one day it all falls apart. Tohru disappears, I suddenly lose my curse, nearly eighteen years later the presumably dead love of my life comes back, and on top of that, I have a freaking kid. It's insane."

Tears began to trickle down Tohrus face as an immense guilt began to eat away at her. "I'm sorry, Kyo…"

He sighed. "Don't be." Kyo said, rubbing the upper part of her back to soothe her guilt. "It's not your fault, Tohru. You did what you had to. I will never hate you for that. You were looking out for me, and I probably woulda done the same thing…"

Yuki couldn't help but just feel for the pair, but there was something he just had to know. "Tohru-kun, can I just ask, why did you leave?"

"Akito-sama didn't like the fact that Kyo and I got married without his permission." Tohru sniffled. "He called me in one day while Kyo was at work and fully intended to kill me right there." Even though Kyo had an idea on what happened, he still gasped along with the other three. Hearing it made it shine in a whole different light. "I didn't want Kyo to suffer, so I told Akito-sama I would just leave and never come back. So I did…"

"Wow." Was all Yuki could get out. But then something hit him. "So obviously you didn't know you were pregnant when you left then?"

Tohru shook her head. "No. I found out I was having Miharu two months after arriving in Hokkaido, and five months later she was born." She noticed Kyo shift uncomfortably next to her. "Had I known, it probably would have changed everything."

"But why didn't you come back then?" Kyo asked, sadness in his eyes. "Why go at it alone?"

"Aside from thinking you were dead," She said, "I wanted to keep her from Akito-sama for as long as I could. I know how he is with the Cat. I remember how he treated you, and I just couldn't bear putting her through the same thing. And I was scared."

Something didn't sit right with Hatori. "Kyo, where are your beads?"

He blinked a few times before realizing what was asked. "Still on my wrist." He replied, raising his arm to reveal the black and white beads. "I've never taken them off, even after finding out I wasn't cursed anymore."

Hatori then turned his eyes to Tohru. "How did you manage to get a set of beads for Miharu then? There should be only one set in the Sohma."

"You'd be surprised how many people actually believe in the curse outside of Tokyo." Tohru replied, leaving the four men stunned with her answer. "Don't worry, it's still considered a myth, no one really believes it. But once I realized Miharu was born cursed, I got the idea to check out temples and shrines that deal with curses and whatnot. It was really hard to find, but a few weeks after she arrived, I found someone with a set of beads, forged from blood and bone."

"…just like mine." Kyo said, amazed such a thing existed out there.

"Exactly." Tohru said, looking at Kyo. "But Akito-sama destroyed them. She'll be okay for a little while, but I don't know what to do for her now."

Kyo looked down at his wrist, flicking the beads so they spun around his wrist. They had been apart of him all his life, like a scar that would never fade. But he always felt that one day he'd give them up. Besides, passing them down to his cursed daughter seemed fitting. "I'll give her mine. I'm ready to let them go, and Miharu needs them more than I do." He said, looking absolutely sincere. "And I want to meet her for real. Where is she?"

Kyo had earned looks of respect from his father and two friends, except from Tohru, whose eyes bugged out at the comment.

"…uh, she's upstairs in her room." Tohru replied, collecting herself. "I'll come with you."

"No," Kyo said, stunning her a bit, "this is something I want to do on my own. Just Miharu and myself. I need to do this one on one."

Tohru understood what he wanted, and had no right to keep him from meeting his own flesh and blood. "Okay." She smiled.

* * *

><p>While everyone was downstairs, Hazuki was banished upstairs, and ordered to look after Miharu after escaping the main house. Kazuma had laid her down on her futon after her hysterical fit in the street and she had succumbed to passing out as soon as she walked through the front door. And thinking the situation too intense for a sixteen year old, Kazuma thought it best to keep him away from the adults.<p>

Sitting next to the sleeping girl, his mind was racing with the days events. Miharu transferring into his school to be with the other Sohmas and sneaking after her and her mother to the main house. He couldn't believe he had witnessed the near assault of Tohru. He knew Akito had a violent streak, but he was always his favorite and seemed to never do anything to irritate him. But seeing the true form of the Cat was really crazy for him. The sight and the smell nearly sickened him literally. Yet she still retained something that made her the same in that form.

'_But why did I tackle Miharu? Who was I saving, her or Akito?' _Even he couldn't answer his own question.

"Speaking of Miharu…" He mumbled, gently running his fingers across the back of her head, feeling a large lump growing under the orange hair, making him cringe. "Dammit, I think I tackled her too hard…I should go see if Hatori's here."

Hazuki stopped when he felt something grabbing his sleeve. "Don't leave, please…"

He looked down at Miharu, who looked at him, her eyes pleading with him. "I-I thought you were sleeping."

"I can't." She replied.

He placed his hand on hers in attempt to release her grip. "I'm only getting Hatori. You hit your head pretty hard, so he's gotta check it out. I'll be right back."

"No, please stay with me!" She cried, her shaking grip becoming tighter. "I'm…I'm scared….!"

He noticed her face crumple into anguish, and her eyes beginning to well up with tears. "I don't wanna be alone!"

He leaned down to get a better look at her. Really, Hazuki couldn't even believe she was crying right now. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked softly.

"I'm scared…" She cried, her eyes looking into his.

"What's scaring you, Miharu?" He was really beginning to worry as she openly wept. He had only known her a short time, but if she could fearlessly take on the very person he and countless others was scared of, then what could possibly scare her?

"That form!" She cried, never letting go of Hazukis sleeve. "Every time, it terrifies me…I become less human….it's like I've died over and over again…I feel the pain of everyone who's ever taken it on…I see the memories…and feel the anguish and sadness of generations cursed by it…"

Something struck Hazuki. It hurt him to watch her in so much pain and terror. He unpinned her hand and lay down next to Miharu, and wrapped her in a protective and warm embrace, her body trembling against his as she grabbed onto his uniform, burying her face into his chest. "It's more than one person can handle, isn't it?"

She continued to sob, but Hazuki never left her side. And honestly, he didn't want to leave. Instead he just rested his head against hers, letting her hair tickle his face as he comforted her. As he looked away and stroked some auburn tinted hair, complex emotions began running inside of him.

'_The Rat and the Cat, eternal rivals. Born to hate each other. One always better than the other. Why is it supposed to be that way? I don't get it, I don't __**really**__ hate her now that I think about it. You know what? Screw what we're supposed to be, I __**want**__ this…' _And he remained there, intending on keeping her safe.

End of Chapter 5!


	6. The Formal Introduction

**Summary: **Kyo and Tohru married after graduation, but she suddenly vanished at the urging of Akito. It's been almost eighteen years since anyone in the Sohma family has seen her, but now she's suddenly come home, and with an orange-haired reason…

**The Last Banquet**

Chapter 6 - The Formal Introduction

Kyo's heart nearly beat out of his chest as he stood in front of Miharu's room. He felt like proposing to Tohru was child's play compared to meeting his daughter.

"Okay Kyo," He chanted, trying to encourage himself, "you can do this! It's your kid and you want to meet her!" Suddenly what little courage he did have escaped him and he hung his head in defeat as he sighed. "Hell, who am I kidding, this is terrifying!"

Yet after admitting his fear, he seemed to feel ready for this. Breathing steadily as he knocked on the door, he waited for it to open.

"Huh?" Hazuki quietly said, turning his head to look back at the door. He looked back down at Miharu, whose eyes had also flittered to the door. She had since stopped crying and calmed down completely, but liked the warmth that Hazuki offered. "Let me answer the door, okay?"

"…Okay..." She replied, though reluctant to let her source of comfort leave her.

As she slowly loosened her grip on his navy colored uniform, she sat up along with him, rubbing the back of her head with a slight grimace on her face as she watched him go to the door.

Hazuki was surprised to see a visibly nervous Kyo on the other side of the door.

"K-Kyo?"

"Hey, Hazuki." Kyo halfheartedly greeted him. "Sorry, I'm looking for Miharu, I thought this was her room."

"It is." The teenager replied, stepping out of the way, revealing the said girl.

Kyo could swear he felt his heart stopping. Sitting inside was the child he never knew he had, actually in front of him, and not in the form of the Cat demon. The round face and large blue eyes watched him in the doorway, surprise lining her face. _'She looks so much like Tohru…' _

It was a heavy moment, and Hazuki could feel it in the air. "I, uh, guess I'll leave you two alone. You gonna be okay, Miharu?" He asked, looking from Kyo to Miharu.

She never took her eyes off her father. "Yeah…I think I'll be alright."

"Okay." Was his reply as he slowly stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Ever so slowly, he made his way to the stairs, taking his time going down each step.

Back in the room, Kyo nervously went over and sat down in front of Miharu.

"Uh, hello Miharu." He said, figuring he had to begin somewhere, fidgeting a bit.

She was pretty sure she knew who this man was and why he was here, but she waited for him to affirm it. "…Hi…and you are who exactly…?"

He didn't really know where to begin, so he just introduced himself. "Maybe you already know, but my name's Kyo Sohma. I'm, ah, I'm your," he gulped before saying the last word, "father."

The emotionless look on Miharu's face had scared Kyo more than anything. The moment felt like an eternity for Kyo as she said nothing.

"So," She finally began, her blue eyes examining Kyo's face as if this was the last time she would ever see him, "you're the one who named me."

His red eyes flew open at the statement and a certain memory came to mind.

"_Kyo, if we ever had a child, what would you want to name it?" Tohru innocently asked out of the blue as she and Kyo were doing some shopping._

_The question caught him off guard, but he wanted to answer anyway. "Well…I always liked Naota for a boy."_

_Tohru smiled. "That's a cute name, I like it. But what if we had a girl?"_

"_Hm…" He stopped to think it over. "Miharu. I'd name her Miharu."_

"_Miharu?" Tohru asked._

"_It means 'protector'." Kyo replied, resuming his walk. "Miharu is a strong name. I want her to be able to have a strong resolve and stay tough no matter what. To stand up for herself and others and what she believes in. A perfect name for a girl. Especially a Sohma."_

"_That's such a pretty name." Tohru replied, a warm smile running across her face. "But why give the girl the stronger name?"_

"_Because the boy would be just like me, he wouldn't need a tough name to live up too." Kyo joked, laughing a bit as he wrapped an arm around Tohrus shoulders as she laughed along with him, continuing on their way._

The memory made Kyo want to cry as it pulled at his heartstrings. Tohru had taken the conversation to heart, and even after leaving she gave their child the name he wanted her to have. "Yeah, yeah I am." He said, an almost sad looking smile lining his face because of Tohru. "You're a pretty tough girl, especially with what you did to Akito and all. Obviously you're living up to the name."

A scowl he recognized as his own creeped up on Miharu's face. "The bastard deserved what he had coming to him."

Kyo laughed a bit. "I can't deny the truth in that." He could feel an awkward silence coming on, so he shifted the conversation to the item in his hands. "So, you're the Cat, huh?"

"You saw that?" She replied, though looking at him like it really wasn't that big a deal. "Honestly, I'm pretty surprised you aren't scared of me right now."

Kyo let out a little laugh. "I've seen it before. I know what happens when you lose them. Actually, I saw Akito destroy your Zodiac beads."

The statement hit Miharu like a ton of bricks and her eyes flashed down to her wrist. "Oh-oh my God, they really are gone…!"

"Hey, don't freak out or anything!" Kyo said, placing a hand on her shoulder in hopes of preventing a meltdown. "You'll be alright!"

She looked at him like he was insane. "How the hell is that possible!"

Kyo looked at her and gave an understanding smile that made Miharu stop and pay attention. "I don't know if you mother told you this, but the Cat before you was me." He grabbed her left hand and swiftly slid the beads he bore all his life onto his daughters wrist. "I've had to wear these since birth. I also know the feeling of how hopeless and terrifying it is when you don't have them. For the past thirty six years they were mine, but I know you need them more than I do. And as your father, I want to be the one to give them to you. I want this to be the first step in knowing and learning to love you, Miharu."

Miharu's eyes glittered with shock as she slowly moved her eyes from her fathers to her wrist. She couldn't muster up the words to thank him. As she brought her arm closer to her, she examined the black and white beads. They were identical to the ones she had always wore, and they had the same heavy feeling of loneliness hers had. She sincerely wanted to thank him for giving up such an important part of himself to her, but she couldn't speak. Instead she did the next best thing.

She leapt from her place on the floor and wrapped her arms around her father.

Kyo was stunned, but for the second he had, he tightly embraced her. For that one second, he really did feel connected to Miharu and he just knew she was his. _'I should not have had to wait sixteen years for this.'._ He thought, a cloud of pastel red clouding his vision and a ball of fur and clothes in his arms.

As the smoke disappeared, he held up the petite cat. Kyo couldn't help but smile as he looked at her. The blue in her eyes seemed brighter against her soft reddish fur, and her tail was significantly fluffier than his had been. But what really got him was all the piercings in her ears had stayed in, all five in each ear. He couldn't help but snicker a bit.

Her feline face gave him a questioning look. "What? Don't laugh! I know I look funny, my fur's all short but my tail is super fluffy…it looks ridiculous…" She felt so embarrassed she could scratch him in the face.

"No, it's not that." Kyo smiled, looking from her ears to her eyes. "I've just never seen a cat with pierced ears before."

"Oh, these?" Miharu asked, pawing at one of her ears. "Yeah, it's pretty cool they stay. It'd suck if I lost them. By the way, is the seahorse here?"

"Seahorse?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean Riku?"

"No, the doctor one." She replied.

"Oh, Hatori." Kyo said, thinking she meant the current Dragon. "Yeah, he's downstairs. Your mom needed some stitches after the whole Akito thing. Why?"

"I hit my head pretty hard when Hazuki jumped me at the main house." Miharu responded. "I can't shake this dizzy feeling, and I'm pretty sure the lump on the back of my head is the size of a small planet. Hazuki was gonna get him for me a little while ago, but I didn't let him. Besides, I'm about to change back anyway."

Kyo immediately set the small cat down. "I'll go get Hatori for you then…"

No sooner did he turn his back to leave, he heard an all too familiar poof sound. _'Safe! Made it out just in time.'_

The rapid beating never left Kyos chest as he made his way down the stairs. A thousand thoughts had filled his head, and part of him still believed this was all just a dream.

As he hit the base of the steps and rounded the corner to the living room, he had heard the voices of its occupants.

"Hey, Hatori." Kyo said, breaking up the little group talk they were having. "Miharu hit her head pretty hard earlier, she wants you to check it out."

"Very well." He replied, getting up and passing Kyo in the doorway. Once past, Kyo went and took his place next to Tohru at the table, where Hazuki had joined his father and the rest of them there.

"How did it go, Kyo?" Tohru asked, impatience eating away at her.

Kyo looked up at nothing in particular as the event played through his head. "It was…it went pretty well, actually."

Hope shined in Tohrus eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah." He replied with a stunned smile, all the stress of meeting Miharu vanishing from him. "She was a bit skeptical at first yeah, but once I said who I was, she seemed open to the idea of talking to me. I told her I was the previous Cat, so that seemed to really break the ice with her."

Tohru looked like as if the weight of the world was lifted from her shoulders. "Oh, you don't know how relieved that makes me feel…!"

Kyo gave her and odd look. "Why, you think she'd hate me or something?"

"No!" Tohru replied. "But…Miharu usually hates new people. She's always been like that, never really wanting to get close to others. She had a friend in Hokkaido, but something happened and her trust in others was badly damaged. Anyways, I'm glad she took to you."

"What happened in Hokkaido?" Kyo asked, wanting to know more about his daughter.

Tohru looked sad. "It happened at school. Miharu hasn't even told me about it yet. Every time I brought it up, she just flew into an uncontrollable rage. I figure one day she'll tell me on her own. All I know is one day I received a call from work and her teachers had told me she was in the hospital and they had expelled about seven girls. Even they weren't sure what happened."

"How long ago was this?" Kazuma asked, some pain lining his face for his granddaughter.

"About three months ago." Tohru replied. "Before I told her about moving back to Tokyo. I withdrew her from school the next day and pretty much made up my mind about coming back here as soon as possible."

"Is that why she keeps her arm wrapped up in gauze then?" Hazuki spoke up, his interest in this school incident highly peaked. "I noticed it today, and the day I met her too."

Tohru blinked in surprise. "Y-yes, it is. Though I'm sure the wounds on her arm have long healed, I'm not really sure why she keeps it on."

Yuki looked at his son, curiosity clearly covering his face. "You met Miharu-chan before? How long ago?"

"About a week ago." He replied, looking to his father. Then a bit of shame lined his face. "You remember that day I came home with a black eye?"

"Yes." Yuki replied.

"Yeah, she did it." He admitted.

Then suspicion arose in Yuki. "But you told me you got hit in the eye playing baseball at school. So why the lie?"

"I told him not to tell anyone about Miharu." Hatori said, popping into the room out of nowhere. "Shigure, Shouta, Riku and Katara, they also were not to tell anyone about her. If Akito found out they knew before he did, they would be in serious trouble. I wanted to spare them."

"Makes sense." Yuki agreed.

"How's Miharu?" Kyo asked, beating Tohru to the punch.

"Nothing serious." He replied. "She hit her head hard, but she doesn't have a concussion or anything. But with what she's been through today, I would just leave her be and let rest. The day has been traumatic for everyone."

"Hatori-san, do you know how Akito-sama is?" Tohru asked. Despite the fact that he tried to kill her, she couldn't help but wonder if her daughter had killed him or not.

"Not yet." He replied, walking over and picking up his bag. "Speaking of which, I really should be heading to the hospital and see how he is and how long he'll be there. I'll see myself out."

"Have a good night then, Hatori-san." Kazuma smiled, giving him another bow. "Again, thank you for coming over."

"It was no problem at all." Hatori replied. "Have a good night." And with that, Hatori left Kazumas home.

Turning back to face each other, Yuki was the one who spoke up next as he looked at his son. "I think we'll be doing the same. Machi will probably start worrying if we're not home soon."

"Oh, and uncle Kakeru is coming over for dinner with aunt Komaki!" Hazuki exclaimed, eyes wide with realization. "We have to go, mom'll kill him if we're not there to protect him."

Yuki blinked a few times as he processed the words. "You're right, I completely forgot about that." He said, reaching in his pocket for his cell phone and getting up, Hazuki following. "Damn, it's almost eight. I guess we'll be leaving also."

"Have a safe trip home then, Yuki-kun, Hazuki-kun." Tohru said, giving them a smile as she said goodbye. Both men waved and left, leaving only Kyo, Kazuma and Tohru.

There was an awkward silence for what seemed like the longest time before Kazuma spoke.

"So. What are you two going to do?"

Tohru and Kyo looked from Kazuma to each other then back to Kazuma.

"W-what?" Kyo said dumbly.

"What do you mean, Shishou-san?" She was nervous as she asked.

Kazuma smiled. "About your relationship."

"Oh!" They both said together as they looked at each other. Each of them had the same unsure look on their faces.

Tohru never tore her gaze from Kyo as she spoke. "I…I really don't know right now. In all honesty I came home expecting a grave, not the real thing. I still love you so, so much and I'd give anything to be with you again. But now, I just…I can't think."

As she looked down, Kyo cupped her face with one hand to bring her attention back. "I can tell you're getting that guilty look on your face. What you're feeling, it's okay. Truthfully, I'm feeling the same way. And I'm not sure where to go at this point."

"K-Kyo?"

"I'm not saying let's just forget about each other and pretend we were never married or anything. I never thought I would, but I finally got you back. And I know we can't go back to before the Akito thing, but I want to see how we can make the best of this and where we _can_ go from here." He smiled, making Tohru feel calm. "Just jumping in and trying to go back to like it was before would be a relationship suicide. Let's just think on this for a while, okay?"

Tohru reached up and placed her hand on Kyo's, and gave a teary smile. "I think you're right, Kyo. That would be irresponsible, and then there's Miharu to think of. And she needs so much help right now from the both of us."

Kazuma gave a clap and said with a smile. "Very wise decision, both of you. It's very much in your family's best interests you take this slow. Especially for your daughter. She finally has a father in her life, but if you two don't work out, then that could jeopardize their relationship. I've grown quite fond of Miharu, and I do not want to see my granddaughter hurt because you two rushed into something that shouldn't have."

"Well said, Shishou." Kyo admitted. "I don't want to lose a chance at getting to know my own kid."

"Very good." Kazuma smiled. "Well, I think it's time we all start getting settled down. Remember Kyo, we have a class to teach in the morning at seven. We can continue this discussion afterwards."

"…okay." He said, looking back at Tohru, who could tell he didn't want to leave at all. "I guess I'll get going."

"W-wait!" Tohru said, getting up with him. "I'll walk you to the door, Kyo."

He was a little taken back, but the gesture elated him. "Okay."

As the pair walked out of the living room where Kazuma remained, the walk to the front door seemed to last forever, and not long enough. As Tohru watched Kyo put on his shoes and take a step out of the front door, she wanted nothing more than to pull him back in and make him stay with her. But as she was ready to bid him a good night, he turned around and wrapped his arms around her.

Tohru's heart was beating so fast she thought it would explode. She wanted to hug him back, but her body was frozen with shock. "K-K-Kyo?"

"I'm sorry." He said, giving her one final squeeze before pulling away. "I've just been waiting nearly eighteen years to do that. I couldn't wait anymore…"

Tohru surprised him as she pulled him in and gave a hug of her own. "Don't be. I've dreamed about this every night since I left."

They let their warm little moment continue for as long as they could until Kyo had to leave. They wished each other a good night, and promised they'd see each other again tomorrow. It was the first time in seventeen years the pair actually felt some hope.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Hazuki was surprised to see Miharu there in class. And the day was typical, aside from Riku drilling Hazuki on what he did yesterday after running off on him.<p>

"So, why did you blow me off yesterday?" Riku asked, eyeballing his friend as they were returning from lunch on the roof, making their way back to class.

"I didn't blow you off." Hazuki said in defense. "We didn't have anything planned…"

"No, but you did rush out of class like you were on fire or something." Katara said, curious as Riku was. "So what were you chasing?"

Hazuki was fighting with himself. He never kept secrets from his two best friends, but he didn't really want them to know what he saw yesterday. And he was afraid of how them knowing would affect him and Miharu.

"So?" Riku pressed harder. "Were you chasing a girl or something?"

"W-what!" Hazuki got nervous, Riku didn't know it, but he was close. "No! I wasn't chasing a girl! Besides, we can't have normal relationships anyways, so why would I try?"

"Hey! There you are!"

The three Sohmas turned around at the voice. Walking towards them was another Sohma, and Hazuki welcomed the distraction.

"Hiroya, what's up?" Katara asked, giving the boy a smile.

"A lot." He replied, his demeanor a little serious, which wasn't usually like him. "Did you guys hear? Akito is in the hospital."

Hazuki paled as Riku and Katara freaked at the news.

"You're kidding!" Riku laughed, thinking Hiroya was playing a joke.

He gave the blonde a slight glare as he crossed his arms. "Obviously you didn't hear about it, cause you also woulda known it was because the Cat attacked him."

"The Cat…?" Katara trailed off on her sentence before the realization hit her. "Oh my God, Miharu didn't really, did she?"

Riku and Hazuki both looked as if they were struck by lightning.

Hiroya gave the redhead an inquisitive glare. "Miharu? Who is she?"

"Katara," Riku said, placing a hand on her shoulder, dread lining his face, "I just want to thank you personally for signing all of our death warrants, as Akito is going to kill us for this."

"I-I…oh, I completely forgot!" Katara cried, fear taking over her face.

Hazuki decided it was time to save them. "Guys, stop. Akito already knows."

The three of them turned to look at him.

"Wait, run this by me real fast." Hiroya said, not grasping anything at the moment. "You obviously know something I don't and I want to be on the same level here, punishment by Akito be damned."

Hazuki took a breath before explaining. "Katara, Riku and I, we met the Cat last week on our way to Shigure's. Her name's Miharu. She's Kyo's kid."

"Seriously?" Hiroya piped out, his arms falling to his side from the bomb that seemed to drop in front of him.

"Yeah, there's a lot to that story so I won't elaborate, but I followed Miharu after class yesterday and-"

"So that's what you were doing!" Riku shouted, pointing at the confused boy next to him.

"Riku, shut up." Hazuki snarled at the interruption. "Anyways I followed her and found out she and her mother were gonna visit Akito. I had a bad feeling about it and tailed them, and long story short, a fight broke out and Miharu transformed and beat the holy hell out of Akito for trying to kill her mother. After I stopped her and she changed back, Arata saw the whole thing and the five us ran for it."

The three Sohmas just stood there, mouths open as the stared in disbelief. Until Riku punched Hazuki in the arm.

"What the hell, why didn't you tell us!" He barked, feeling a bit angry.

"Riku, stop!" Katara demanded.

Hazuki was rubbing his arm and glaring at Riku. "It's not exactly what I'd call a conversation starter. And besides, if you would've seen the Miharu I did yesterday, you'd keep it a secret too. I'm pretty sure she doesn't want it getting out either."

The bell for class rang, which caused the teenagers to look down the hall and see the kids scurrying in the halls.

"I gotta get back to class." Hiroya reluctantly announced. "But hey, the real reason I came looking for you, Arata called a meeting for all the Zodiac after school. I think it regards this Miharu girl."

"R-really?" Katara asked. It was rare Arata interacted with the Zodiac at all, but to call a meeting was totally out of the ordinary.

Hiroya nodded his head. "Yup. I'm assuming the Cat has to be there, too. Miyami and Miyuki did say every single one of the Zodiac, so she must be invited."

"Looks like we gotta tell her." Hazuki said. "Wonder how she's gonna like going back to the main house…I'm going." He said, turning away and leaving. "See you later, then."

Silently, the group broke up and went their own way. They remained quiet until they reached their classroom.

"Hey, Katara." Hazuki called. "You tell Miharu about the meeting."

"Why me?" She looked stunned at the request.

"Cause she'll probably hit me if I ask." He replied, not wanting to bring up the topic of returning to that place to her.

"No way!" Katara said, walking to her desk. "Do it yourself!"

As he watched his friends ditch him, the contemplated on how to ask, and what would happen. So with a deep breath, he walked over to her desk in the back corner.

"Hey Miharu." He casually greeted, looking to see if she was even paying attention to him. "Got a second?"

"Depends." She replied, a little surprised he was talking to her.

Now he started feeling uneasy. "So I, ah, I got some news about all of us Zodiac…"

She eyed the nervous boy. "You can continue, you know. I won't hit you or anything."

It was now or never. "Miharu, we have a meeting at the main house today. All thirteen of us. And Akito won't even be there! He's gonna be in the hospital for a while. It's Arata who called it."

Her face was unreadable. She held no emotion at all from the news. But before Hazuki could ask what she was thinking, the teacher came in.

"Alright, get to your seats and get your textbooks out."

Hazuki looked back to Miharu before returning to his desk. "Just meet me at the gates." He turned to head over and stopped a step in. "Oh hey, where were you for lunch?"

"…I was in here." She replied. _'Sort of an odd question…'_

"Sohma! To your seat!"

"Yes, sensei." He replied before looking back once more at Miharu. "Don't eat alone next time, just meet up with us, okay." He smiled, turning away to his seat.

Miharu felt her stomach flip flop a little as she kept staring at the spot he stood in, blinking a few times.

Meanwhile, Riku watched the whole thing from his desk a row over from Miharu. _'I don't get it. She's the Cat, so why's Hazuki being so nice to her?'_

* * *

><p>The last bell of the day rang, and Miharu only let out an anxious sigh. "I guess this is it…" She mumbled, packing her notebooks away in her bag and slowly getting up from her seat.<p>

"Hey, you ready to go?" Hazuki asked, walking up to her. She could sense that he wasn't looking forward to going back to that place anymore than she did.

"Hn, guess so." She replied, throwing her bag over her shoulder and walking out and towards the gates, Hazuki following.

The walk was silent and uneventful as it was suspenseful. It wasn't until they got to the gates that Miharu noticed more than Riku, Shouta, and Katara waiting for them. She stopped in her tracks when she saw two more teenagers standing with them. "Hazuki."

"Yeah?" He asked, turning back to look at the girl.

"Those two with Shouta and them, are they cursed too?" She said, pointing to the two.

He looked over at the gate. "Yeah, that's Hanako and Hiroya. Hanako's a first year like Shouta and Hiroya's a second year like us, but in a different class. Why, you seem surprised."

"I guess I just didn't realize there were that many of us in the same place." She said, resuming her walk and heading over to the rest of the group. She didn't show it, but she was intimidated by the group. After all, she was the outsider and Akito made sure she knew it yesterday.

"Hazuki, Miharu!" Katara shouted, waving the two over their way.

"Hey!" Hazuki greeted. "You ready to go?"

"I guess." Hanako shrugged, looking from Hazuki to Miharu. "So you must be Miharu."

"Yeah, so what?" She replied, giving the girl a small glare.

"Nothing!" Hanako jumped back a bit. "I just thought we'd never get to meet you, that's all. C-can I introduce myself? I'm Hanako."

Miharu watched the girl and she sensed no hostility in her. She seemed to genuinely want to know her. But there was the part of her that trusted no one, and it seemed to overrule. "Isn't that why we're going to the main house? It's probably about me anyways…"

Shouta gave a low whistle. "Stone cold as always, huh Miharu-chan?"

"Shut up, Shouta." Hazuki said, wanting to avoid trouble. "Let's just go, I'm sure the others are already there.

As the walked from the school and to the enormous Sohma estate, curiosity began to eat away a Miharu. They were nearly there, but she had to strike up a conversation of some kind. "Are we the last ones to arrive there?"

Hiroya answered her question. "Pretty much. The rest of us are in either middle or elementary school, so they get out earlier. The seven of us are the oldest of the Zodiac. Hazuki's the oldest of all of us, he'll be seventeen in October."

"Oh, that's about two months away…" Miharu mumbled to herself.

"Miharu, when's your birthday?" Hanako asked, trying to break the ice with her.

"January first." She replied.

"New Years day?" Riku asked. "That's pretty cool."

"It has its moments." Miharu replied, shrugging a shoulder and noticing the large concrete wall the hid the estate from the rest of Tokyo. "Oh God, we're here…"

"You don't seem like you're looking forward to this." Katara asked, noticing Miharu's statement.

"Let's just say I've had a not so hospitable experience last time I was here…" She commented, remembering the last twenty four hours ago. She groaned a bit as she examined the home. "At least that bastard Akito isn't here…"

"Where is he?" Hanako asked.

"I sent him to the hospital yesterday." She replied with a smug look on her face. "He's only lucky I didn't kill him…"

Shoutas mouth dropped in shock. "You freaking serious? Why?"

"Miharu, that's quite enough." Hatori called from the gate. He caught everyone's attention. "Hurry in, everyone. Arata and the rest are waiting for you." As the seven teenagers shuffled past him and to the front door of the main part of the house, Hatori stopped Miharu.

"What?"

"Miharu, Arata has a spot set up for you right in front of him, so…" He seemed to trail off for some reason.

She seemed to get an idea. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna do to him what I did to Akito. Besides, he's a kid right? I'm not gonna stoop that low and beat a kid."

This did make Hatori feel better, enough to make him smile a little. "Very well. But you will be meeting the rest of the Zodiac. Are you prepared for that?"

"Now or never, right?" She replied, giving a shrug.

Hatori ushered her through. "I suppose."

As they got closer to the room where everyone was, Miharu could hear the voices getting louder and louder. She didn't dare admit it to Hatori, but she was starting to get scared. They were just like her, but what if they would reject her? After all, she was born to be hated.

Inside, he saw everyone she went to school with, and younger kids also. As she examined them, she immediately noticed a set of identical twins, blonde with honey colored eyes. It almost freaked her out a bit, they were such mirror images of each other, form their uniforms, to the way they wore their slightly wavy hair. Looking around more, she noticed other kids that looked like they could be twins also. It was a little odd to her.

As she walked to the center of the circle they formed, Miharu went ahead and took the spot across from Arata, who looked like he came from the same school as the little girl and boy next to the blonde twins.

The room became silent as Miharu walked in. Yet as the moments passed, they made her feel anxious. And from what she could tell, Arata was feeling about the same.

"Hello, Miharu-san." He said, his green eyes glittering with fear and hope. "First of all," He said, surprising everyone as he bowed down in front of her, "I want to apologize for what my father did to you and your mother yesterday. Neither of you deserved that, and I'm really sorry!"

The sentiment stunned Miharu to the point of being visibly flabbergasted. "Wha-wait a minute, you're apologizing to me?" She asked, trying to make sense of the situation. "I mean, you did witness me nearly crush your fathers skull in. If I were you, I'd wanna kill me right now. And aren't you supposed to hate me like the rest of the Zodiac does?"

Arata sighed and gave a sad smile. "Though he is my father, and I'm his son, father and I are nothing alike. He feels the Zodiac should fear him, but I don't. You should be treated with respect like a normal person, not like an ill-mannered exotic pet that constantly needs to be punished. I rule with love and understanding, father rules with intimidation and violence."

All thirteen occupants let out and audible gasp at Aratas admission.

"You're right, you are nothing like him." Miharu admitted, causing Arata to sigh in relief.

Then he turned serious. "S-so, I called this meeting with all of you today for two reasons. One, my father is in the hospital, so I will be in charge while he's gone." A lot of them were surprised at the news of Akitos hospitalization. "And second because the last one of us has finally arrived." Arata stated, though clearly a bit nervous. "This is Miharu-san, the Cat."

She paid no mind, but she felt twelve pairs of eyes just stare at her like she was a priceless artifact.

Arata continued. "Don't treat her like an outsider. She's one of us, so please make her welcome."

"I don't believe she is." The little boy next to Arata said. He had golden orange hair, dark brown eyes, and was currently giving Miharu the evil eye.

She looked over at the little boy and returned the evil eye as the little girl next to him spoke up. "Ayato, don't be so mean."

Ayato looked at the little girl. "C'mon Sumi, you and everyone else are probably thinking the same thing too. I heard one of the adults say this girl came from Hokkaido. She's probably just a fraud trying to look for money or something so she doesn't rat us out. If they were smart, they'd just sic Hatori on her."

There were some mumblings amongst the younger Zodiac that seemed to agree with Ayato, and Miharu was resisting the urge to walk over and hit the kid. "You got quite the mouth on you don't you, you little brat."

"I only call them as I see them." Ayato replied with a mean smile.

Miharu returned the smile with a sinister glare of her own. That's when Arata decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Obviously Ayato wants proof, Miharu-san." He knew Ayato, and he knew they boy was the type who had to see things to believe them. He then looked around to the rest of the Zodiac, then to Miharu. "You can refuse this if you really want, but to prove to Ayato and the rest of us, can you show us your true form?"

Miharu visibly paled. "What are asking me again?"

Arata looked away for a moment. "Well, it's not just shutting Ayato up, it's…I want to see the Cats true form for myself. What I saw yesterday terrified me, but I want to see it again. I want to see how a girl like yourself can take on such a form. There's just some things I have to know. Again, if you really don't want too, I'm not going to force you."

Miharu sat there for a moment, contemplating on what she wanted to do. Taking on that form only made her feel the pain of the hundreds of souls that carried the curse of the Cat. It scared her considerably and she would feel part of her humanity being stripped away. But she felt as if she couldn't deny Arata his request.

With a deep breath Miharu stood up and gave her answer. "What you're asking scares the hell outta me and I never want to take on that form, but you know what? Respect for respect."

Arata looked confused for a second as he caught something tossed to him. "H-huh?" He looked down at his hands and in them were the black and white beads she constantly wore. The gasps and shrieks of rooms occupants had brought Arata back from his thoughts and up to Miharu.

It was just as he remembered from yesterday, the pale leather like skin, the long gangly limbs, and the eyes that reminded him of blood. The fear from the day before came flooding back, and as he looked off to his left, he noticed Ayato looking pretty scared.

"D-do you believe Miharu-san now, Ayato?"

Ayato looked like he was holding back a terrified scream as Miharu looked over at him. "Y-y-yeah…! I-I do now…"

Miharu looked back to Arata, praying that he would hand her the bracelet back. But he wasn't done yet.

"Before I give these back, there's one more thing I need to see, Miharu-san." He said, looking past the demon and off to his right. "What I saw yesterday didn't make any sense at all. Hazuki-san, can you please come up and change Miharu-san back?"

Hazuki felt all eyes on him, and he didn't like it. "You want me to do what now? I can't do that, I don't know how and besides, it's impossible!"

"You don't remember when you shoved her off my father?" Arata asked, doubting himself a bit. "The second you touched Miharu-san, she changed back. I saw it myself."

"Huh?" He mused, trying to remember the day before, oblivious to all the stares. As the memories flashed through his head, he remembered the said event, yet for some reason he couldn't remember the moment they touched. It just seemed like it didn't exist.

"Hazuki-san?"

"I…I'm sorry, Arata-sama," Hazuki apologized, feeling like he was missing something, "I don't know if what you're saying is true."

Arata didn't want to give up. "Can you try? If it doesn't work, I'll never bring it up again. Promise."

Hazuki couldn't argue with the boy. Partly because he wasn't even sure himself. Slowly he got up and walked over next the monster that stood in the room.

He was scared, but nowhere near as scared as he was yesterday. After all, it was still Miharu underneath the horrid exterior. As he looked at her, he could see fear, anguish, and regret in her crimson eyes. She wanted to change back, and just hide from the world. Her helpless state seemed to make Hazuki want to try all the more.

"Miharu?"

She heard him quietly say her name, but she was frozen and she kept her eyes locked on something nonexistent on the ground.

"It's okay, you can trust me."

The words worked, and Miharu looked over at the young man. He hand his hand extended towards her and while his face was emotionless for the most part, his violet eyes seemed to beg 'take my hand'.

She kept her eyes locked with his as she slowly she reached up, but her arm felt like it was weighed down. Halfway through, Hazuki's hand met hers, and he wrapped his fingers around hers tightly. As he did, he immediately felt her cold and misshapen hand shrinking. He watched as her eyes went from red to purple to their natural bright blue, and her long narrow face return to it's doll-like shape. Even as she dropped about two feet in height, their eyes were still locked on one another's.

Even after she changed, Hazuki still kept a hold of her hand. He knew she would break down like she did yesterday, and he just didn't want to let go.

"Hazuki-kun, how did you do that?" A boy with choppy brown hair and gray eyes asked.

"I don't know, Keito." He replied, still watching Miharu. Just as soon as he realized his heart was beating out of control, Arata spoke up.

"Thank you, both of you." He said with a smile. "I know that was hard to do, but really, thank you Miharu-san. I promise I won't ever ask that of you again."

"You better not." Miharu replied. "Cause that feeling really sucks…"

"I won't." He replied, getting up. "We're done here, you guys can go home."

As everyone got up and debated on what they wanted to do regarding Miharu, she was still rooted to the floor with Hazuki at her side.

Hand still in Hazuki's, Miharu bent down and grabbed her schoolbag. She gave it a quick squeeze before leaving. "Thanks for changing me back. See you later…" She said halfheartedly with some shame lining it.

"Wait, Miharu!" He called, wanting to chase after her, but was stopped by Riku and Shouta.

Riku gave him a suspicious glare. "Dude, what's going on?"

"Yeah," Shouta added, "what the hell was up with the shojo manga stare you were giving Miharu?"

Hazuki felt nervous. "N-nothing! I wasn't looking at her like that! Was I…?"

"Hazuki," Riku said, looking oddly at his cousin, "you don't…like _like_ Miharu, do you?"

End of chapter 6


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